SET-listed Asset World Corp (AWC) is rolling out its first hotel in a 10-billion-baht mixed-use project in Pattaya, choosing a new luxury brand under IHG Hotels and Resorts (IHG) management.
Wallapa Traisorat, chief executive and president at AWC, said the 1.9-billion-baht Vignette Collection Pattaya will be the nearest beachfront hotel when travelling to Pattaya from Bangkok.
The 234-room property -- rebranded from the Grand Sole Hotel -- is the first development of AWC's Aquatique by the Beach, which will consist of five hotels, a branded residence, a retail centre, along with a wellness and sports activity centre.
She said the project also meets the company's purpose of creating business opportunities in the long run.
"We still have long-term confidence in Thai tourism. The hotel will be ready in 2024 which is the right time when the industry will have rebounded," Mrs Wallapa said.
She said Vignette Collection, IHG's latest brand, will deliver luxury services to guests and demonstrate responsible business commitment to local communities as responsible tourism becomes even more important to tourists.
Apart from Thailand, Hotel X in Australia is also among the first properties to join the Vignette Collection.
IHG hopes to sign 100 hotels globally with this brand over the next 10 years.
Serena Lim, IHG's vice-president for hotel development for South Asia, East Asia and Korea, said the firm has 430 hotels with over 100,000 rooms globally under the five luxury and lifestyle brands including InterContinental, Kimpton, Six Senses, Hotel Indigo and Regent.
Rajit Sukumaran, managing director of Southeast Asia and Korea at IHG, said IHG opened 132 hotels globally and signed over 200 hotels or more than one hotel a day in the first half.
The Southeast Asia region may have to face challenges as the market situation depends on vaccinations, government restrictions and borders reopening, but hotels in other markets, such as the US and China, have come out of the crisis with strong performances.