IHG Hotels Expands in Bhutan and Bangkok

Cambodia’s international airports in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville welcomed a combined 2.48 million passengers in the first six months of 2023, representing a 270% year on year increase. The State Secretariat of Civil Aviation said the airports combined on an average of 404 flight movements per week with Phnom Penh the busiest with 602 weekly flight movements. In total there were 24,725 flights in 1H23, up 148% year on year. Cambodia is targeting 5 million international tourist arrivals in 2023, representing a 120% increase over the 2.27 million who arrived in 2022.

IHG Hotels & Resorts announced the signing of Holiday Inn Thimphu. The management agreement was signed with T&K Construction Private Limited for the first Holiday Inn hotel in Bhutan. The 100-room Holiday Inn Thimphu is set to open its doors in the second quarter of 2025. This is IHG’s second brand in Bhutan, complementing the existing Six Senses Bhutan. The hotel will cater to the needs of both leisure and business travelers with well appointed and inviting rooms and suites, three food and beverage outlets including an all-day dining restaurant, bar and a lobby lounge. The hotel will provide multiple meeting facilities, a swimming pool, fitness center and a spa.

IHG also announced the signing of Holiday Inn Express & Suites Bangkok Asok with A.P.K Real Estate, a real estate developer in Thailand. This marks the first collaboration between IHG and A.P.K with the Holiday Inn Express to open in early 2025 following its conversion from the vacant new-build high-rise BelAir Mansion residential condominium. It will feature 180 rooms with 15% of the inventory comprising suites with kitchenettes, as well as a lounge and bar, swimming pool, meeting room, gym and DIY laundry. IHG has six Holiday Inn Express properties in Thailand with another 10 in the pipeline. This will be their second Holiday Inn Express & Suites property in the country after the Holiday Inn Express & Suites Bangkok Central Pier which is opening soon. The new Holiday Inn Express & Suites Bangkok Asok will be located 25km from Suvarnabhumi International Airport and Don Muang International Airport.

Radisson Hotel Group announced the signing of Park Inn by Radisson Bangkok Don Mueang, the introduction of the Park Inn by Radisson brand in Thailand. Over the past 12 months Radisson Hotel Group has signed 7 new hotels in the Kingdom, encompassing over 1,300 rooms including the recent openings of Radisson Resort & Suites Phuket, Radisson Resort & Spa Hua Hin and Lewit Hotel Pattaya, a member of Radisson Individuals as well as the soon to open Radisson RED Phuket Patong Beach and Radisson Hotel Ploenchit Bangkok. The Park Inn by Radisson will be the group’s sixth brand in Thailand. Park Inn by Radisson Bangkok Don Mueang is scheduled to open in the third quarter of 2024 with 89 guestrooms, all-day dining restaurant, a bar, outdoor swimming pool and a 140 square meter function room.

Radisson Hotel Group said they had a strong first half of 2023 with strategic growth across the portfolio being delivered in APAC and in EMEA with milestone openings and signings. In APAC, Radisson Hotel Group added 60+ hotels to its portfolio, representing over 8,000 keys, in Vietnam, India, Thailand, the Philippines, and China. In Thailand, the Group has more than doubled its portfolio by signing seven new hotels with over 1,300 rooms in the last 12 months. Key signings and openings include Radisson Hotel Ploenchit Bangkok which will become the Group’s flagship Radisson property in Thailand when it opens in 2024, a new Radisson RED hotel in Phuket, Radisson Resort & Spa in Hua Hin, Radisson Resort & Suites Phuket, and the debut of the Park Inn by Radisson brand in Thailand with a new signing in Bangkok. 

Melbourne’s Quincy Hotel, on Flinders Lane, has been listed for sale by InterGlobe Enterprises. The hotel opened in early 2021 and represented InterGlobe’s first entry into the Australian market, taking their hotel count to 13 properties worldwide. The 29-story hotel offers 241 guestrooms and full-service amenities including a ground floor café, the Salted Egg Restaurant and a rooftop club lounge. The hotel is being offered with vacant possession. CBRE Hotels is managing the sale via an Expression of Interest Campaign closing on August 15, 2023.

The Sacom-Tuyen Lam Company sent a proposal to Lam Dong Provincial People’s Committee in Vietnam to use part of the protective pine forest in Tuyen Lam Lake National Tourism Site for their resort project. The protective forest lies in Da Lat City and Duc Trong District. Tuyum Lam Lake was the first in the country to be recognized as a national tourism site in 2017. The site covers 29,000 hectares of land with more than 10 tourism companies providing various services including luxury accommodation, picnics, adventure tourism, golf tournaments, and religious tours to the site.

Indian Hotels Company announced the opening of The Crown, Bhubaneswar – IHCL SeleQtions hotel in Odisha. The hotel is located in the heart of Bhubaneswar, located adjacent to the Kalinga stadium. The hotel has 81 keys with the rooms’ décor influenced by the local art and craft. There is an all-day diner Zodiac Café, Bait and a bar called Highness. The property offers over 10,000 square feet of event spaces spread across five conference venues as well as open spaces. Finally, the hotel offers a state-of-the-art gym and a pool. With the addition of this hotel, IHCL will have six hotels in the state of Odisha including two under development.

Roostels India launched Roadies Rostel in Ahmedabad yesterday, a unique holiday staycation based on the theme of the reality show Roadies. Roostels plans to launch at least 15 more locations across India. Roadies Rostel was developed in partnership with Leisure ARC. The Ahmedabad resort has 17 Roadies-themed rooms.

Personnel Moves

Minor Hotels announced the appointment of Ian di Tullio PhD as the company’s new Chief Commercial Officer, effective from June 2023. He joins the Bangkok-based group from his most recent position as Chief Commercial Officer Europe at Accor where he led the commercial management and marketing efforts for Europe & North Africa across a portfolio of nearly 3,000 hotels ranging from economy to luxury and management to franchise operating models.