Suphajee Suthumpu

AFTER bringing satellite operator Thaicom from nowhere to eighth in the world and increasing its market cap five to six times in the four-plus years she headed the company, new group CEO of Dusit International, Suphajee Suthumpun, is on a mission to put the homegrown hotel group on the world stage.

Suthumpun joins Dusit at a time of tremendous growth. The chain operates 29 properties today but has a pipeline of 40 hotels that will open in the next three to five years across AMEA. The target is to sign another 20 hotels this year, she said.

Hospitality education is also growing great guns with eight projects in six countries.

But Suthumpun’s goal is incalculable and larger than just number of hotels, schools, company size and other such performance indicators. “I could grow Dusit to 100 hotels and have more education projects, but I’m looking for more impact than just that,” she said in an interview.

“My goal is first, for everyone of our 4,000 employees – and this will grow to 12,000 as we open more hotels – to be proud of being a part of Dusit and to believe in our mission. Ultimately, for Dusit to be seen as the homegrown asset of the country which all Thais can be proud of. If a Thai were to visit, say, the Dusit Thani in Dubai, he or she would be filled with pride that Thailand has produced such a brand.”

Her priority is to strengthen the foundation of the company to support “quality” growth. The pillars centre around five key areas, namely, people, process, property & branding, technology and financial capability, she said.

Marking a new chapter at Dusit, Suthumpun is the first CEO who is non-family and only the third CEO since the business was found by Thanpuying Chanut Piyaoui in 1949. The founder’s son, former CEO Chanin Donavanik, has stepped down but remains chairman of the executive committee.

Asked why he decided to handover the baton to Suthumpun, Donavanik said with the business growing so rapidly, the company had to be managed and led differently.

“I don’t think I have the energy to do detailed work anymore. I also think technology will be important if the company were to do well and I am not good with that. And when she said yes, I felt comfortable to retire as I have someone who has the passion and reputation to look after Dusit, the company I love as my mother founded it.”

– Read how Suthumpun plans to strengthen Dusit’s foundation in View from the Top, TTG Asia’s June issue 

ROBERT Guy, managing director Singapore and Malaysia at Destination Asia, has been awarded the Rama Rebbapragada Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Cruise Industry during the Seatrade Cruise Asia Gala Dinner last week.

According to a statement by Seatrade, Guy received the accolade “in recognition of his long, outstanding engagement within the cruise industry in Asia”.

Zinan Liu, chairman, Cruise Lines International Association, and who presented the award to Guy, said: “He has been involved with cruising since its absolute beginning in Asia.

“His experience with the industry and his encyclopedic knowledge of the geography of Asia made him a natural point of contact for the cruise line leaders who first came to Asia at that time, such as Adam Goldstein, Arne Bakkelund, Peter Cox, Stein Kruse and Bruce Krumrine, and of course the man whom this award is named after, Rama Rebbapragada.

“As cruise tourism now moves to centre-stage, his long experience and deep understanding of it gives him a special place in the Asian cruise industry.”

Seatrade Cruise Asia took place on May 12 to 13 at the Busan Port International Passenger Terminal in Busan, South Korea.

Nadda Buranasiri, CEO, Thai AirAsia X (fourth from left); Kamarudin Meranun, Group CEO, AirAsia X (centre); and Benyamin Ismail, CEO, AirAsia X Berhad (fourth from right)

AIRASIA X will launch new routes from Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok to Tehran starting next month.

Flights to the Iranian capital from klia2 and Don Mueang International Airport will be operated thrice-weekly, with commencement on June 21 and 22 respectively.

“The recent lifting of sanctions opens up exciting new prospects for Iran as a tourist destination,” said Benyamin Ismail, CEO of AirAsia X.

“We believe that the revival of direct flights to Tehran from Kuala Lumpur is timely and we foresee that our direct flights from both ASEAN cities of Kuala Lumpur and Bangkok can improve bilateral relations while encouraging trade and tourism activities between the cities.”

To celebrate the launch, promotional fares are now being offered starting from 299 ringgit (US$74) one-way on Economy and from 999 ringgit one-way on the Premium Flatbeds for flights departing from Kuala Lumpur.

Meanwhile, Thai AirAsia X offers fares starting from 2,990 baht (US$84) one-way on Economy and from 9,900 baht one-way on the Premium Flatbeds for flights departing from Bangkok.

Promotional fares are available for booking online from now until May 29 for travel from flight commencement until May 22, 2017.

AUSTRALIAN developer Crown Group has unveiled Skye Hotel Suites, a new hotel brand set to debut in Sydney’s Parramatta suburb in 2017.

Skye will form part of the 29-storey V by Crown Group development known as Parramatta’s vertical village, and features 72 studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom suites. A sky bar will also reside on Skye’s 26th floor.

Guests at Skye will get access to the pool, gym, conference room, restaurant, sauna, business centre and alfresco dining and retail piazza at V.

Iwan Sunito, Crown Group’s CEO, additionally revealed plans to expand and bring the brand onto the international stage.

“Asia is booming and with it more and more people travel to Australia for holidays and for business. This has created a gap in the market as the demand increases for luxury hotel-style serviced apartments in Sydney and Australia,” he said.

“Expanding into the transient short-term accommodation market will provide a strong foundation for our continued expansion both locally and across the region.”

A NEW hotel reservation player is looking to crack South-east Asia’s “fragmented” and “underserved” budget accommodation market by partnering hotels in three-star categories or lower and sell their unsold rooms at deep discounts.

Nida Rooms, which claims to be the “largest virtual hotel chain” in South-east Asia, was founded in September 2015 by Kaneswaran Avili, a former top executive at SpiceJet, Tigerair and AirAsia, and Dennis Melka, a Czech venture capitalist.

The hotel reservation startup entered into Thailand in February this year, and is also available in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, with over 3,000 rooms online across the four key markets.

Atakawee Choosang, Thailand country head of Global Rooms, which owns and operates Nida Rooms, hails the concept useful to small hotel owners who lack the marketing networks and financial muscle to compete with bigger brands.

“The majority of hotels in Thailand are in the budget sector. However, the one- to three-star sector is fragmented, and often comprise independent or single-location hotels,” he elaborated.

“With their limited marketing budget, it will be hard for these budget hotels to compete with (economy) brands like ibis…OTAs lean towards five-star hotels and are not usually interested in small hotels with rates lesser than 1,000 baht (US$28.30).”

Increased cross-border trade with the advent of the AEC also heralds opportunities for low-cost accommodation in frontier locations, observed Atakawee. “A lot of logistics are coming into Thailand (from China and neighbouring Indochina countries), but the highway locations are not going to be targeted by big OTAs or hotel brands – and that spells opportunities for us,” he added.

Rooms that have met its standards – i.e. clean room, comfortable bed, complimentary Wi-Fi, hot showers and air conditioning – will be branded and serviced under Nida Rooms. Guests will also receive a personalised amenity kit when they check in.

Young travellers of between 20 to 35 years old, government officials and SME owners are the targeted customers for Nida Rooms.

Currently boasting 1,400 hotels and over 7,500 rooms in Thailand, Nida Rooms hopes to scale up 3,000 hotels across the country and 10,000 hotels across the region by end-2016.

The company also has its sights set on expansion to Vietnam and Latin America, as the latter has a “fragmented” budget accommodation market like South-east Asia too, according to Atakawee.

INDONESIA’s Ministry of Transportation is investigating an incident where a number of Lion Air passengers managed to enter the country without passing through immigration.

The incident began when Lion Air flight JT161 departed from Singapore and landed at Soekarno-Hatta’s domestic Terminal 1 instead of Terminal 2 on May 10.

One of the four transfer buses then mistakenly alighted passengers at the domestic terminal rather than at Terminal 2, where they should have gone, explained Anggara Triana, regional manager international, Lion Air, during a press conference in Jakarta yesterday.

The Ministry of Transportation has since summoned the institutions involved for a hearing to find out how this could have happened, adding that sanctions will be imposed on parties found guilty.

Meanwhile, several passengers aboard the Lion Air flight have been called to process their immigration documents, said Heru Santoso, spokesperson for the Directorate General of Immigration.