Dusit Establishes JV in China

Thailand-based hospitality group Dusit International and China-based real estate developer Changzhou Qiao Yu Group recently established Dusit Fudu Hotels and Resorts, a joint venture hotel management company that will spearhead Dusit International’s continued expansion in China.

Its major shareholders include Dusit International, Changzhou Qiao Yu Group and noted hospitality veteran Mr Giovanni Angelini, former CEO of Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts.

“Dusit Fudu Hotels and Resorts will develop the Dusit Thani, dusitD2, Dusit Devarana and Dusit Princess brands throughout China,” said Mr Chen Li Bin, Chairman of Dusit Fudu Hotels and Resorts. “We look forward to a very successful future with this newly formed management company.”

The company expects to operate at least 30 properties in China within the next three years, focusing on mid-tier to deluxe projects in Changzhou, Qingdao, Qingyuan, Lingshui, Shenyang, Kunming, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shanghai, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Suzhou and Shaoxing.

The first of these hotels, dusitD2 Fudu Binhu Hotel Changzhou, soft opened on 23 July 2013.

China is now Thailand’s largest feeder market with 1.1 million visitors to Thailand in Q1 2013, a 100% increase y-o-y. Additionally, Chinese travellers spent a record US$102 billion on international tourism in 2012, a 40% rise from US$73 billion in 2011.