Centara Hotels & Resorts (CHR) plans to invest 15 billion baht in hotels over the next three years, while targeting revenue of 15.5 billion baht in 2025.
The company also urged the government to address illegal daily room rental in condos.
Thirayuth Chirathivat, chief executive of CHR, said as Thai and global tourism is expected to improve this year, the company aims to secure an average occupancy rate of 77% and revenue per available room of 4,500-4,800 baht in 2025. In 2024, the company earned 12.2 billion baht in revenue, which included a joint venture project in Dubai.
CHR renovated Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya and Centara Karon Resort Phuket and reopened them, in addition to launching its third resort in the Maldives.
Outside Thailand, the company's properties in Osaka reaped a windfall from the strong inbound market of more than 38 million visitors to Japan. The positive momentum should be maintained this year as Osaka is set to host Expo 2025 between April and October.
In Thailand, season 3 of The White Lotus TV series not only lifted hotel revenue in Koh Samui, but also put the whole island on the global tourism map, said Mr Thirayuth.
Gun Srisompong, chief financial officer at CHR, said at least 15 billion baht would be earmarked for the hotel business from 2025-2027, from a total budget of 19 billion baht under SET-listed Central Plaza Hotel (Centel).
He said this year roughly 5 billion baht will be allocated to hotel renovations and developing notable projects, including a renovation of Centara Grand Beach Resort & Villas Hua Hin with 251 rooms, which will be developed into three hotels -- Centara Grand, The Centara Collection, and Centara Life -- totalling 486 rooms.
After a successful operation under the luxury Centara Reserve brand in Samui, the company plans to rebrand Centara Grand Beach Resort and Villas Krabi into Centara Reserve Krabi. Centara also wants to develop another resort in Samui next to Centara Reserve Samui, offering mainly villas.
In Dubai, the company is adding 200 rooms on an adjacent plot of Centara Mirage Beach Resort.
Centara operates 51 hotels featuring 11,000 rooms and has 39 hotels in the pipeline. This year it plans to open nine hotels, including two it owns in the Maldives and Bali, and another seven under management agreements.
Regarding illegal renting of condos as daily accommodation, Mr Thirayuth said the problem stems from a lack of law enforcement, which is unfair for hotels that bear higher costs and are legally licensed. In addition, he said the government should target high-spending tourists, not merely arrivals.