Hop Inn Mae Sot
Thai hotel developer Erawan Group, driven by the fast-growing middle-class in Asia-Pacific, has taken an aggressive stance to expand its mid-scale, economy and budget chains.
As part of its five-year business plan, the group targets to operate 90 hotels with 10,000 rooms by 2020, up from 33 hotels with 5,676 rooms in 2015, said president Kamonwan Wipulakorn.
The expansion focus will be placed on Thailand and the Philippines, underscored by the former’s popularity as a travel destination and the latter’s strong domestic demand.
Budget brand Hop Inn, which shows the fastest growth potential among the brands under Erawan, is likely to reach a total of 50 properties in Thailand by 2020, Kamonwan revealed.
Following the launch of the first Hop Inn in the Philippines in Manila in 4Q2016, the group is targeting to inaugurate 19 more Hop Inns in the country within 2020, she added.
Hop Inns’ revenue contribution to the group is projected to increase from two per cent in 2015 to 16 per cent in 2020.
With these developments plus the country’s expected stable politics in the coming year, the Erawan Group is projecting its revenue to grow 15 per cent to 6.4 billion baht (US$179 million) in 2017.
