Dusit International, a local hotel management company, is confident that the recent joint venture with Changzhou Qiao Yu Group will help to expand its Chinese customer base from the current 5% to at least 15% by 2020.
Dusit has seriously focused on the China market as it sees considerable room to grow in this market and believes that the expansion will strengthen the market network in the future.
Under the agreement signed last week, a new company, Dusit Fudu International Management (Shanghai) Co, was set up with registered capital of RMB30 million.
"This is an important milestone in our company's history. China is the best market for hotel management opportunities," said Chanin Donavanik, managing director of Dusit International.
"We are honoured to partner with such an established and reputable company as Changzhou Qiao Yu Group, which could successfully realise our expansion in China," he said.
The agreement is in line with Dusit's plan to further grow its brand in China, with five hotel management agreements confirmed, and another five in the pipeline.
Properties under this joint-venture agreement will be three more hotels in Changzhou, Qingdao and possibly Wuxi. Cities targeted by the contract over the next five-10 years include Shanghai, Kunming, Chengdu and Chongqing as well as Hainan island.
The first hotel under the Dusit brand, Dusit Thani Devarana Hainan, will open at the end of this year in the southern island. The second hotel under the Dusit Thani brand, Dusit Thani Hainan, will open in 2014.
By 2020, over 5,000 rooms will be under the Dusit Fudu International Hotel Management company, said Mr Chanin.
Apart from the first two hotels, new management contracts in China will be operated under Dusit Fudu International.
Helmed by Chen Li Bin, the Qiao Yu Group has grown from a manufacturing company supplying tourist and camping goods for a highly diversified group, with over a decade's experience building and managing major real estate and hotel properties in China.
Existing hotels operated by the Qiao Yu Group include the Fudu Qingfeng Garden Hotel and Days Hotel and Suites Fudu.
Mr Chen said the venture helps expand the Dusit brand in China and also strengthens the Qiao Yu Group's hotel development and management experience.
"We look forward to a very successful future with this newly formed Dusit Fudu International Hotel Management Company," Mr Chen added.
China is becoming an important source of tourism worldwide.
Recent reports by the China Tourism Academy (CTA) showed that nearly 80 million Chinese travelled abroad last year, spending an estimated US$80 billion, up 16% year-on-year.
In 2012, China was the biggest tourism market with a growth record of 56% to 2.52 million visitors to Thailand, and the number is expected to reach 3.3 million this year.