Hotel sees gain from seizure

Senior vice president for sales and marketing Chris Bailey yesterday said the company's hotel business had not been affected by the airport's closure. On the contrary, he said, Suvarnabhumi Airport's partial shutdown since Tuesday night had benefited the company as some foreigners have to stay longer as they are currently unable to return to their home countries.

"The occupancy rate in our hotels in Bangkok is 100 per cent, while that for our hotels in Samui and Phuket is roughly 90 per cent. Luckily, the turbulence has happened during the high season for the hotel and tourism businesses. So, we will not suffer from the incident and I have a strong belief that our revenue in the last quarter of this year will be higher than that in the same period a year ago," he said.

Bailey added that while there have been some cancellations by foreign tourists, advanced bookings for December and January are still at nearly 100 per cent.

He said the occupancy rate for its hotel business next year depended on how long the present political turbulence lasts. If it ends in a few days, he believes Central's hotel business next year will grow from this year's level. But if the situation carries over into next year, occupancy rates could drop.

"Thailand is still a most attractive destination for foreign tourists. If the situation is not prolonged into next year, those tourists will quickly return to Thailand. Tourism and hotels are cyclical businesses. They might drop today but will recover sooner rather than later."

To cope with the global economic slowdown, Central Plaza Hotel has already outlined next year's marketing plan in order to maintain growth. It will focus more on domestic tourists, as well as introducing promotional campaigns in potential markets such the Middle East and China.

The company already has an office in Dubai."We must have several plans for different situations. The most important thing is to adapt ourselves and our operations as fast as we can to cope with these situations. There is nothing to be gained from agonising over abnormal situations. It will be better if we can take action immediately," he added.

Ronnachit Mahattanapreut, senior vice president for finance and administration, said the company expected revenue of Bt9.15 billion next year, up by 12.4 per cent from its targeted Bt8.14 billion for this year.

Hotel business is expected to grow by 17.5 per cent from this year, due to the full-year revenue recognition of the Centara Grand @ CentralWorld hotel.

Besides, the company will open two new hotels: the Centara Grand Mirage Beach Resort Pattaya in the second quarter, and the Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa in the Maldives in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, the company's food business is forecast to increase by 8.7 per cent from Bt4.7 billion this year to Bt5.11 billion in 2009.