Thai group sets five-year target to build six hotels in UAE

Thai hotel group Minor International expects to double its portfolio in the Middle East by 2020 though Abu Dhabi will remain the gateway to the region.

Minor International is looking at opening up to nine hotels to capitalise on the increasing number of Chinese tourists in the UAE. Above, the Qasr Al-Sarab resort hotel in Liwa. Ali Haider / EPA

The Thai group Minor International is looking to develop up to nine hotels in the UAE.

And it plans to bring brands such as its upscale marque Avani to the region besides Anantara and Oaks.

“Our portfolio in the UAE will double by 2020,” said William Heinecke, the chairman and chief executive of Minor International. “But Abu Dhabi will remain our leading destination in the Middle East.”

The company manages nine properties in the Middle East, all in the UAE, including Oaks Liwa Executive Suites in Abu Dhabi.

The emirate has six properties managed by the group, five of which are managed by its brand Anantara. It is also looking at expanding to Ras Al Khaimah and Fujairah.

While room rates and occupancy rates in the capital are lower than in Dubai, it is also a boon for the hotel sector here, analysts say.

“Abu Dhabi represents higher growth potential in comparison to Dubai, as Dubai is a more mature and saturated market with 606 hotels compared to only 149 in Abu Dhabi,” said Maii Abdel Rahman, senior analyst at the research group Euromonitor International.

The capital’s stress on cultural tourism and its ability to host global events such as Formula One Grand Prix, Mubadala World Tennis Championship, Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship and Adipec boost leisure as well as corporate tourism. The Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority has been promoting Yas Waterworld, Ferrari World, Yas Island and Saadiyat Island besides the desert experiences.

“Abu Dhabi’s strength is in the fact that they have been conservative and careful and culturally sensitive and that will be more and more appreciated,” Mr Heinecke said.

Minor International expects to open a property in Doha in the next quarter, and two in Oman by 2015.

“We are also looking at Kuwait and Saudi Arabia,” said Dillip Rajakarier, the chief executive of Minor Hotel Group, and chief operating officer of Minor International.

The group is not the only South East Asian hotel brand to expand in the UAE. The Thai group Dusit Thani opened a property in the capital last year, and has plans for two more under the dusitD2 Hotels and Resorts brand in Dubai. Four more, including another Dusit Thani and a Dusit Devarana, are expected come to Dubai within seven years.

An increasing number of Chinese tourists are part of the trend, Ms Abdel Rahman said. Last year, there was a 44 per cent increase in Chinese tourists to the capital.

“There is also an increased awareness of these brands among travellers and hotel owners in the UAE,” she said.

Thailand is a popular destination for medical tourism among Arabian Gulf nationals. At Minor International’s properties, almost 15 per cent of all visitors are from the Arabian Gulf, Mr Rajakarier said.

Minor International owns, operates and invests in hotels, and its portfolio includes 104 properties in 14 countries, including the UAE, Thailand, Australia and the Maldives. These operate under the Anantara, Avani, Oaks, Marriott, Four Seasons and Elewana brands.

The group also has interests in food business and expects to open a restaurant under the Australian brand Coffee Club this year in the UAE. It plans to have a 100 Coffee Clubs in the next five years.

Across the brands, Minor International slightly improved its occupancy rate to 69 per cent in third quarter of last year from 67 per cent during the same period in 2012. Globally, the Anantara brand had an occupancy rate of 54 per cent in the third quarter of last year, up by a percentage point from the same period the previous year.

Revenues from Minor International’s hotel operations stood at 9.06 billion bhat (Dh1.01bn) in the first nine months of 2013, up by four per cent from the same period the previous year. Ebitda rose by six per cent to 3.36 bn bhat.

Minor International reported a 22 per cent increase in its net profit in the year through September to touch 2.54bn bhat.

Last year, it paid US$4 million for a 50 per cent stake in the luxury boutique hotel brand Per Aquum, which manages Desert Palm in Dubai besides two properties in the Maldives.

The same year, the group formed a joint venture with Dubai-based Aujan Group Holding’s Rani Investment to own a property in Mozambique that was rebranded as an Anantara property.