FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
nationthailand

Minor Hotel Group continues global expansion

Minor Hotel Group continues global expansion

MINOR Hotel Group's global expansion has continued after it established a presence in four new markets, while it has rebranded and is refurbishing its flagship hotel in Bangkok to position |the property to tap a tourism industry that it believes is back

The new markets are Doha, Portugal, Brazil and Seychelles.  
William Heinecke, chairman and chief executive officer of parent company Minor International, said that at the end of 2014 MHG had expanded its portfolio to 126 properties in 22 countries with more than 16,000 keys.
“By the year 2019, the group is set to operate about 190 properties across the globe. We have reserved Bt21 billion plus Bt5 billion in cash for short-term investments,” he said.
In January, Banana Island Resort Doha by Anantara was opened on the coast 20 minutes from the Qatari capital. MHG said the 141-room resort featured Qatar’s first water villas. 
Last month the group launched the 124-room Avani Seychelles Barbarons Resort and Spa.
It has also announced the strategic acquisition of six |Tivoli hotels in Portugal and Brazil, and the Tivoli Hotels and Resorts brand in Brazil. The milestone 168-million-euro (Bt6 billion) investment represents Minor’s entry into the hospitality sector in Europe and South America.
The Brazil acquisition comprises two properties – a hotel in Sao Paulo and a resort in the heart of an ecological reserve on the coast close to Salvador. 
One of the four Tivoli properties in Portugal is in the capital Lisbon and the rest are in Algarve, one of Europe’s premier tourism destinations.
Tivoli is a member of the Global Hotel Alliance, which three of other Minor brands – Anantara, Avani and Per Aquum – belong to.
Heinecke said the group’s flagship hotel in the Thai capital, the Four Seasons Bangkok, had been renamed the Anantara Siam Bangkok Hotel. He said Bt620 million would be spent on refurbishing the 354-room property over the coming months.
“Thai tourism has already returned to normal despite the continuing of martial law. The hotel business is also back,” he said.
He said the Anantara brand was slated to debut in Sri Lanka in the third quarter with the opening of the Anantara Tangalle Peace Haven Resort and debut in Oman in the fourth quarter when the Anantara Jabal Al Akhdar Resort is scheduled for launch.
In 2014, MHG added three Anantara properties to its portfolio – the Anantara Phuket Layan Resort and Spa, the Anantara Emei Resort & Spa in China’s Sichuan province, and the Anantara Medjumbe Island Resort and Spa in the Quirimbas Archipelago in northern Mozambique.
A company press officer told DPA today that Minor International is planning to boost its hotel portfolio by 50 per cent to 190 properties by 2019. Currently the group owns 126 hotels around the world through five different brands: Anantara, Oaks, Per Aquum, Elewana and Avani.
"We are always looking to expand where there is opportunity, right now our interests are in South America, Australia and Africa," the officer said.
In January the group bought two hotels in Brazil and four in Portugal from the Tivoli Group for 168.2 million euros (US$188.2 million). 
 
 
nationthailand