IHG Looks To Thailand For Growth, Signs Off On Eight New Projects
Thailand’s eastern seaboard was historically seen as an industrial zone, but now it’s being seen as more than that, seeing increased attention as an investment and tourism destination, which has been helped by the Thai government’s efforts to promote the country’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
Now, it will be expecting more than one holiday inn hotel in Rayong, as the InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) recently had a signing in the Thailand. They sealed a momentous signing with the local real estate company, Ratanakorn Asset, based in Pataya, for the development of the eight new hotels across the country, which will amount to an additional 2,000 rooms, half of which can be found at the eastern seaboard.
The signing will cover multiple brands, including Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express and Staybridge Suites, and it expected to up IHG’ portfolio, which currently has 24 hotels in operation, with an additional 14 currently in development.
The new first property that’ll go in operation thanks to the partnership with Ratanakorn Asset will be the Holiday Inn Express Pataya Koh Larn, a direct conversion to open on an island just off the Pattaya coast. The other seven hotels will all be new-builds, with one of them being a new holiday inn hotel in Rayong, all of which will be opening from 2022 onwards until 2027.
The hotels are:
- Holiday Inn Resort KohLarn;
- Holiday Inn Resort Pattaya Jomtien;
- Staybridge Suites North Pattaya;
- Holiday Inn Resort Rayong;
- Holiday Inn Resort Khao Lak Cape Kakarang;
- Holiday Inn Express Phuket Kata, and;
- Holiday Inn Express Samui Chaweng.
IHG Managing Director South-East Asia and Korea, Clarence Tan, says that Thailand’s tourism industry has been good, especially with 2017, where the country’s revenue growth outpaced its tourism growth, which is good for everyone in the sector. He says that they now see the EEC as a stable growing zone, marked by the recent opening of the Utapao airport and the Suvarnabhumi Airport’s expansion, among other things. He adds that it is a wave of growth, the IHG are more than happy to ride on.
While there is some admission that Pattaya suffers from a ‘negative image’ thanks to the historical sex tourism, the crop up of hotels, lifestyle amenities and other such attractions are getting rid of that image, attracting upscale travellers and families.
