Erawan Group PCL, Thailand’s leading hotel developer, is spending over P4 billion to build more budget hotels in Manila as well as in Cebu and Davao over the next five years.
“We see that Asean is growing and it’s a very big market specially outside Thailand, many countries are developing a lot. So, when we explore the whole Asean, we see that apart from Thailand that is very exciting, we see the Philippines,” Kamonwan Wipulakorn, president and director of The Erawan Group, told reporters on the sidelines of the opening of its Hop Inn Hotel in Makati.
“Right now, the Philippines has the highest economic growth and also the highest development that is why we choose to come to the Philippines because for us we look for high growth market,” she added.
The Erawan Group has two Hop Inn Hotels in the Philippines and 26 in Thailand.
“We would like to have maybe around 10 hotels in Manila and we look at Cebu, we have got a location in Cebu Business Park already. We will build two hotels in Cebu and we also looking at Davao,” Kamonwan said.
She said her company planned to build between 12 and 15 budget hotels in the Philippines worth P4 billion over the next five years.
The company is slated to open three more hotels next year—one in Aseana, a site in Alabang and one in Tomas Morato in Quezon City.
“When we plan to come here we are actually targeting for domestic market because it’s a very big market, but I think with the location that we have, we also attract foreign arrivals as well. So right now about 50 percent is domestic market and the rest would be foreign markets,” Kamonwan said.
She said the first Hop Inn Hotel in Malate, Manila was performing very well—with an occupancy rate of about 80 percent.
“In the next three years, we see that the revenue contribution from Philippine hotels will go up to 10 perfect of our total portfolio. That is significant to us, right now its very small,” Kamonwan said.
“Right now we only focus in Thailand and the Philippines, we don’t see other country as exciting as Thailand and the Philippines,” she added.
The Erawan Group is formerly known as Amarin Plaza PCL. The company and its affiliates operate hotels, office buildings and shopping centers in Thailand. Bangkok-based Erawan is listed on the SET100 Index of the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
Erawan manages the Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok, JW Marriott Bangkok and the Renaissance Ko Samui Resort and Spa.
Shopping center operations, meanwhile, include Amarin Plaza, Amarin Tower, Ploenchit Center and Erawan Bangkok Boutique Mall.
The company has up to eight affiliates involved in the property management and hospitality businesses.