Central Group, Thailand's leading retail conglomerate, is splashing more than 20 billion baht to expand overseas investment in both retail and hotel businesses.
Central Group's retail project in Vienna is projected to have an investment cost of 15 billion baht, including a public park on the rooftop.
Under the group's five-year overseas investment plan ending in 2023, the company has spent 2 billion baht this year to renovate the retail complex in Turin, Italy, purchased last year.
On top of that, 3 billion baht is allocated to build a new hotel in Osaka, Japan, with construction scheduled to start next year.
More than 15 billion baht will be used to build a new retail complex in Vienna, Austria, that is being designed.
"Central Group's international investment and growth can be partly attributed to the strong baht, which has appreciated substantially against most major currencies over the last few years," said Tos Chirathivat, the group's executive chairman and chief executive.
International revenue, mainly from three international operations in Vietnam, Europe and the Maldives, contributes 30% of total revenue for the group.
Mr Tos said Central Group formed a joint venture with Austria's Signa Group to develop the luxury mixed-use project in Vienna, scheduled to open in 2023.
The 58,000-square-metre development comprises a luxury department store, a luxury hotel with 150-165 rooms, retail shops and upscale restaurants, with a publicly accessible park on the roof.
Centrally located at Mariahilfer Strasse, a popular shopping district nearby Vienna's famous museum quarter, the project intends to bring to the city an iconic, sustainable and future-oriented development and serve as a new meeting place for both locals and visitors.
The retail project in Vienna will give the group 14 stores, including nine Rinascente branches in Italy, three malls in Germany and one in Denmark.
Centara Grand Hotel Osaka will be developed via the partnership between Centara Hotels & Resorts, Taisei Corporation and Kanden Realty & Development.
Centara Grand Hotel Osaka is the first Centara-branded property in Japan, and will occupy a prime site in Osaka's Namba district, a tourism hub for the city and the wider Kansai region.
The 34-storey Centara Grand Hotel Osaka is projected to be rebuilt into a flagship five-star hotel with 515 rooms.
The hotel is scheduled to open in 2023.
Mr Tos said Rinascente Department Store in Turin was completely rebuilt and expanded, doubling net sales space.
Despite the general economic slowdown in the EU, Central's business in Europe is seeing healthy growth, with tourist sales increasing by 12-20% in all three countries -- Italy, Denmark and Germany.
"Interestingly, Thai tourist spending in the first eight months of this year at Oberpollinger in Munich and Rinascente in Italy jumped 30% and 50% year-on-year, respectively," he said.