One of Asia’s next-generation hotel owners, the soft-spoken and calm Thirayuth has fire in his belly to make Centara Hotels & Resorts (CHR) Thailand the number one chain in the region, reports Raini Hamdi
Thirayuth Chirathivat
CEO
Centara Hotels & Resorts
In April, you succeeded Gerd Steeb, who’s been with CHR for 20 years. How’s it been?
Everything is going as normal. Though I took over officially in April, I was kind of an acting CEO since June last year, when Gerd had semi-retired. I worked closely with him and learned a lot from him and from our chairman (his father, Suthikiati Chirathivat). Before that, my role was handling projects and development; in the past year, I learned more about the business.
Have you always been groomed for the position?
Probably. Nobody knew as it never was never specified that I would be the next CEO.
Was it something you wanted?
I was guided by my father. After I graduated from university, he said since we have a hotel, I should look at working in it. So I started as a trainee in Centara Ladprao Bangkok. I found I liked hotels, so I studied hotel management in RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology, US).
What do you like about hotels?
The industry is evolving all the time, so you learn all the time. I like development the most – you form an idea from scratch and see it to the finished product. You also work with all the key areas – rooms, F&B, etc – to create the right product.
So CHR can expect huge growth in development from you then.
Our strategy is to be asset-light. Currently, of the 32 hotels in operation, 14 are owned or JVs, the rest managed. Going forward, we are looking at minimum eight to 10 managed projects per year, and one owned/JV hotel every two years.
Would you hire other international brands to manage your hotels as you did previously?
Not anymore, as we have developed the infrastructure, and our five brands cover all segments: Centara Grand Hotels & Resorts, Centara Hotels & Resorts, Centara Residence & Suites, Centara Boutique Collection and Centra Hotels and Resorts.
Soon, we’ll be launching our new economy brand.
There’s potential to grow CHR not just in Thailand but the region, and by region, I mean up to India and the Middle East, where we have one or two projects close to signing.
How are Asian homegrown chains perceived today and how are they better than global chains?
In Thailand, we are well recognised. The industry knows us and our brands, and we want to use this to expand to other countries.
I think we can match the product of the international chains but we can be better at people.
You travel a lot too and you know the service levels here, especially in Thailand, are much more refined and detailed compared to Europe, at least from my experience. We want to be better by refining further our service and consistent standards; this is something that can never end.
As CEO, how are you different from Gerd Steeb?
The business has to grow faster. Gerd’s done a great job. He had to centre on our own projects, and he was a good, experienced hotelier. But as you know it takes four years to build a hotel and capital is limited, so we must transit to a management company. We’ve been putting in the systems and the people to do that in the last few years. So I continue and build on what we have achieved to date.
But you are the new generation hotel CEO. Surely you’d like to bring in new ideas?
I’m comfortable with the asset-light model and I’m also driving the growth of our new economy brand. We’ve talked about the economy brand for two years, but we’ve not really pushed it.
As well, our business can continue to evolve. For instance, we can expand our spa business and convention centre hotels, both here and outside Thailand.
How involved is your dad in CHR?
He’s the chairman, he does not run the day to day. We look to him for comments and guidance, but we are the ones who execute the ideas, make them happen.
What key lessons have you learned from Gerd Steeb and your dad?
My father is very, very detailed, always asks why, why, why, and he expects answers. He said beauty comes later, function comes first, and he has a clear vision of where he wants his hotels and the group to be. These are important learnings.
Gerd is very good when it comes to operation. So I have the best insights of both worlds, vision and execution.
Are you a visionary?
I have to be. But, the operation has to be able to cope and follow. There is no point if we, say, come up with something futuristic and the operation cannot follow. There has to be a balance.
But your dad had Gerd Steeb. Who do you have?
Gerd still acts as an advisor.
Are you an entrepreneur or hotelier?
(Laughs) I’m a mix of both.
What motivates you in this job?
I want to see the business grow, but it has to be profitable and sustainable growth. I want Centara to be the number one chain in the region.
What are your biggest challenges?
The competition, the business environment and finding qualified people as we keep growing.
Is there a business leader who inspires you?
My dad. He’s a real entrepreneur, he wants to prove something – I find that very inspirational.
