Lebua brand owner targets New Zealand on way to recognition as a global chain
Challenge Hospitality expects its Lebua brand to gain as strong a reputation as globally renowned hotel chains within three years, starting with a move into New Zealand next year.
The local company started its hotel-management business in February with Bangkok's five-star, 198-room Lebua Hotel. The company is negotiating with the owners of a 40-room resort and five-room private villa in New Zealand, CEO Rattawadee Bualert said yesterday. It expects to conclude talks and set an investment budget early next year. She said the resort and villa had already been built and decorated in New Zealand style. Challenge Hospitality just has to invest in terms of human resources and Thai-style hospitality. The company has also been approached by an international developer planning a project called Puravarna on a 200-rai area in Phuket. It will consist of a high-end hotel, houses and restaurants. The developer wants Challenge Hospitality to help it manage six restaurants. If Challenge Hospitality can reach a deal on management fees, contract period and other details, it will start doing research to study consumers' behaviour and the market before proposing the restaurants' concepts and designs by the middle of next year. Meanwhile, other hotels and serviced apartments have approached the company to seek its management expertise. Rattawadee said the company had not set a target for its expansion at home and abroad because it wants to grow gradually and efficiently. The company's restaurant business is also developing. It plans to open a new Asian-style seafood restaurant called Breeze on floors 51 and 52 of State Tower, above the Lebua Hotel, in mid-November. The restaurant will be its fourth high-end restaurant in State Tower, following Sirocco (Mediterranean), Distil Bar and Mezzaluna (Italian). It is decorating a function room and banquet hall on the same floors as Breeze, as well as renovating the lobby lounge on the ground floor. The function room and banquet hall have the capacity to host up to 1,000 people for events such as conferences and weddings. Total investment in Breeze, the function room, banquet hall and lobby lounge is Bt150 million, of which Bt95 million has been loaned from Kasikornbank. Challenge Hospitality expects its food and beverage business, including the four restaurants, function room, banquet hall, State Room and restaurant management, to achieve Bt1 billion in revenue by next year-end. This year, it expects to gain Bt400 million-Bt500 million from the business, which represents 70-80 per cent of its overall revenue, said Rattawadee.
Nitida Asawanipont The Nation
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