Indians will spend $410 billion on travel; we want to be part of that journey: Dusit International's Donavanik
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. NEW DELHI : Bangkok-headquartered Dusit International's founding family wants to make its second India innings India count with a flurry of new hotel signings. India is one of the most important markets for Thailand, the third-generation hotelier Siradej Donavanik, vice-president of development for global hotels, told Mint on Thursday.
"This is our second stint in India, and we want to get things right. Unfortunately, our earlier partnership did not work out for us, and we learnt how important the market is to us and wanted to reenter the market to make a big impact," he said. The Thai multinational hospitality company first came to India in 2013 with Bird Group to set up two hotels.
However, the partnership ended about four years later, in 2017. It will now focus on tier-II and -III cities while still eyeing future growth in metro destinations. Hotel industry veteran Deepika Arora will be heading Dusit International's India business.
It has eight brands, including luxury apartments, globally.
To begin with, it plans to introduce its luxury and upper-midscale brands in the country, one of the "high-potential markets". It has signed deals in locations like Raipur (Chhattisgarh), Bhiwadi (Haryana), Lonavala (Maharashtra), Kolkata (West Bengal), Kasol and Manali (Himachal Pradesh), and Karnataka. The expansion will allow the brand to increase its presence in different locations while maintaining its standards and identity.
It will look at having about 3,000 rooms in the country in the next three years, with about 30 signings. It expects to have about 10-11 open hotels by then, too, with plans to open about two hotels a year. This expansion follows the December 2024 launch of dusitD2 Fagu,
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