COMO Hotels and Resorts is stepping up efforts to attract Thailand’s luxury outbound travellers as it expands its presence in Europe.
The strategy coincides with the launch of two new properties in France: COMO Le Beauvallon on the French Riviera and COMO Cordeillan-Bages in Bordeaux.
“Thailand has long been one of Asia’s most sophisticated luxury travel markets, with travellers who are globally minded, culturally curious, and increasingly seeking meaningful, experience-led journeys rather than purely transactional luxury,” said Doris Goh, executive vice president, commercial, at COMO Hotels and Resorts.
Goh said France continues to hold strong appeal for affluent Thai travellers, making the new openings well positioned to capture demand for travel centred on gastronomy, wine and heritage.
Alongside the new French properties, COMO said established European hotels such as COMO Castello Del Nero in Tuscany, COMO Alpina Dolomites and London’s COMO The Halkin continue to attract Thai guests seeking longer stays and wellness-focused escapes.
To strengthen its position in the market, COMO is shifting from a destination-focused sales model to a customer-centric regional structure.
“The Thai luxury traveller remains highly relationship-driven, with trust, familiarity, and personalised engagement carrying far greater influence than traditional mass-market advertising. The strategic priority is therefore not volume distribution, but precision distribution, reaching the right affluent traveller through trusted luxury channels,” Goh explained.
This restructuring involves redirecting selective marketing investments toward affluent outbound segments. Central to this strategy is the appointment of Bangkok-based Jocelyn Whiteside as global director of sales for Thailand and Hong Kong to deepen ties with bespoke travel advisors, DMCs, invitation-only communities, and luxury consortiums.
COMO is also transforming how it collaborates with local intermediaries.
Goh explained: “We are increasing direct engagement with affluent Thai travellers through intimate client events, wellness talks, chef collaborations, destination showcases, and exclusive experiences that bring the COMO lifestyle to life.
“In parallel, COMO is exploring collaborations with carefully selected Thai KOLs, celebrities, and tastemakers to deepen brand affinity through authentic storytelling and immersive experiences.”
She also highlighted the importance of priority access for DMC clients, and tailored storytelling content for Thai audiences.
“Thai luxury DMCs remain a critical gateway to the high-net-worth travel segment, given their strong influence over the end-to-end guest journey. As such, partnerships (with Thai luxury DMCs) should evolve beyond transactional contracting toward strategic collaboration,” added Goh, emphasising joint client events, familiarisation trips and co-created culinary or wellness itineraries.
