Anthony Lark, managing director and general manager of Trisara, is PHA’s president
PROMINENT leaders in Phuket’s hospitality sector have rallied together to establish the Phuket Hotel Association (PHA) to develop a unified voice and brand identify for the island.
The formation of PHA was spearheaded by Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks, who enlisted the assistance of veteran hotelier Wichit Na-Ranong as founding advisor.
Heading the Phuket Hotel Association as president is Anthony Lark, managing director and general manager of Trisara, while Mark Simmons, vice president sales & marketing, Asia-Pacific at Outriggers Resorts, and David Keen, chief executive of Quo, have been appointed as strategic advisors, among other prominent hotel owners.
Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily, Simmons said: “The idea of the association is for hotels to collaborate together to focus on ‘Brand Phuket’, to give one voice to Phuket’s hotel industry. Covering hotels from north to south of the island, the association will collaborate on tourism marketing strategies to promote Phuket as a leading resort destination in Asia.”
Creating synergies out of the collective reach of the non-profit, strategic initiative is a principal goal. “We want to be a strong part of the local economy to lobby the government to improve the infrastructure, for example, as Phuket gets a new airport terminal and attracts major events like Laguna Phuket International Marathon,” added Simmons.
PHA will also be a platform to “groom the next generation of talent in the hospitality sector” and lead in charitable works, he informed.
Comprising general managers and owners to ensure that decisions are made at the executive level, the newly-launched association currently boasts 40 chain and independent properties, and targets to reach 70 hotels by this year-end.
Global third-party companies like STR are also supporting the association, revealed Simmons.
