It’s a name we are going to hear a lot more of as Dusit International, the Thai tourism group, undertakes a major expansion, trebling it hotels and resorts worldwide.
Group CEO Suphajee Suthumpun outlined the group’s plans when I met her recently in Berlin, where she was due to address tourism industry leaders.
Dusit International currently has 25 properties across Southeast Asia, China, The Maldives, India the Middle East, Africa and North America with another 50 planned properties in various stages of development.
And she is looking to Germans to help drive the expansion of both business and holiday traveller numbers. Germany, she told me, is a key market.
Ms Suthumpun comes to Dusit with a strongly technological background. She spent more than 20 years as a senior international executive with IBM, and was until recently CEO of Thaicom, Thailand’s first satellite provider.
She holds a Business Masters in International Finance and Accounting from Northrop University in California. With such a background, it comes as no surprise to learn that, with Dusit Hotels and Resorts planned to treble in number in just four years, her vision is focused strongly on technological advancement.
But she and her colleagues also recognizes that tourism is essentially a people business so Dusit is also investing in professional tourism education, bringing through a new generation of tourism managers and executives.
Fundamental to the group’s offer to its guests is the Thai tradition of gracious hospitality.
Dusit was founded by Thanpuying Chanut Piaoui, mother of current Vice-Chairman and Chairman of Dusit International’s Executive Committee, Chanin Donavanik, who holds a Business Masters for the University of Boston.
Its hotel and resorts brands include Dusit Thani, Dusit Deverana, the more contemporary dusitD2, and Dusit Princess.
Prices range from 100 – 250 US Dollars in its popular Thailand hotels, to 400 US Dollars at its luxury 5-star Maldives hotels and resorts. But if you are a backpacking millennial, says Ms Supunthum, Dusit has something for you, too. It is launching new budget hotels with generous co-working and meeting areas – ideal for making new friends on your travels.
www.dusit.com
