DUSIT International has sealed its joint venture agreement for China (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 15, 2013), clinching the deal with real estate and hotel developer Changzhou Qiao Yu Group and two veteran hoteliers, Giovanni Angelini and Harris Yang.
The joint venture will see the Thai chain add 10 hotels in China, with five hotel management agreements confirmed and five developments in the pipeline. More hotel management agreements are soon to be announced for Jiangsu and Guangdong provinces, a statement said. By 2020, more than 5,000 rooms will come under the Dusit Fudu International Hotel Management Company, it added.
The Changzhou-based Qiao Yu Group is led by Chen Li Bin and has grown from a manufacturing company supplying tourist and camping goods, to a diversified group with over a decade of experience building and managing major real estate and hotel properties in China. Existing hotels operated by the group include the Fudu Qingfeng Garden Hotel, and Days Hotel and Suites Fudu.
Properties to be developed under the new joint venture include three hotels in Changzhou, one in Qingdao and possibly one in Wuxi. Cities targeted by the agreement over the next five to 10 years include Shanghai, Kunming, Chengdu, Chongqing and Hainan.
On its own, Dusit International is also opening a Dusit Thani and a Dusit Devarana in Hainan. The company is on a growth path, with at least five hotels confirmed opening this year.
In an interview last month, CEO Chanin Donavanik said: “We’re not going to be competing with the likes of Shangri-La, InterContinental or Hyatt, which have been in China far longer. China is big enough for everyone and a South-east Asian chain can do well there with a different flavour.
“China is going to be the biggest hotel market in the world, so we need to be there.”
Existing Dusit properties such as the newly-opened Dusit Thani Maldives already attract many Chinese honeymooners and family travellers.
