CHAIN OF THE MONTH: Dusit International
As Dusit International embarks on a new phase of expansion, Louise Oakley jets over to its newest gem, Dusit Thani Maldives, to find out more from the company’s vice president, operations, Jiri Kobos
My interview with Dusit International vice president, operations Jiri Kobos is a little more relaxed than most. Instead of being in an office or lobby, we’re sat watching the sun set at Sala Bar, an over-water venue at the company’s newest gem, Dusit Thani Maldives.
The view of the sun going down behind the resort’s over-water villas, curving seductively around Mudhdhoo Island in the Bar Atoll, is awe-inspiring and it’s easy to see why Kobos, who is based in the corporate office in Bangkok, is investing significant resources and time in ensuring everything at the new resort is exactly as it should be.
After all, there is a lot at stake with this hotel; it’s an acquisition for Dusit rather than a management contract.
“This is Kuhn Chanin’s baby,” says Kobos, of Dusit International CEO Chanin Donavanik, who leads the company his mother founded 63 years ago.
“One day he came to the office and said ‘we are buying an island’, and so it happens. [When it comes to] deals you can be actively looking, be pursuing, have prospect generations and negotiations that go over years and years, and then they fall apart, or you have something like this, you just have to meet somebody who introduces you to somebody and then you go and have dinner and ‘pow’ — it just fits in and makes sense.
The diligence doesn’t take that long and it’s proving to be a good direction for sure,” observes Kobos.
A total investment of US $80 million was committed to the project, with Dusit as the majority shareholder.
In addition, Dusit College, a subsidiary of Dusit International, which has grown to more than 12,000 students across six campuses in Philippines and two in Thailand, will be developing a hospitality training programmes in the Maldives for Maldivians entering the tourism sector — again, reflecting the company’s commitment to the area.
However, so speedy was the acquisition that Dusit only had six months of pre-opening ahead of the launch of Dusit Thani Maldives on February 6.
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“It was already in progress,” recalls Kobos. “We influenced what we could at that stage in terms of some of the interiors, the work flows, the restaurants; there was only a limited time that we were able to play with.
“It’s probably the record [pre-opening] in the Maldives because every project, due to the complexity here in the Maldives to do business, really is very unique,” he says, referring to the logistics challenges and the need for resorts to be self-sufficient.
“Everything has to come from the mainland, if you go into the back of house, its frankly self-sustained, from bottling plants to waste management to the generator room — huge money was spent in those areas because that will sustain us over time,” he says.
Of what Dusit could influence, the main element was the restaurants, with the chain’s signature Thai restaurant Benjarong occupying the space underneath Sala Bar, with views out across the Indian Ocean.
“We can say that it will be aiming to be the best Thai restaurant in Maldives, we are a Thai company, there is a Thai company across the bay [Anantara] but we still believe we have that understanding [of Thai cuisine],” asserts Kobos.
Benjarong is one of the hotel’s key points of difference, along with its 750m² infinity pool — the largest in Maldives; its tree top Deverana spa — unique to Maldives; room options to suit different budgets and nationalities, from beach villas to the quintessentially Maldivian over-water ocean villas; and a 360˚ house reef, located in the first UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve in the country. “It’s sustainable tourism,” Kobos says of the reef. “That’s really what draws people and interests them.”
The hotel has recruited a passionate young marine biologist Lauren Arthur to educate guests about the reef; Kobos says it is not forced upon people but that it is a key part of the experience, with turtles and manta rays among the reef’s inhabitants.
Arthur’s role is also vital in helping educate the staff about their home, encouraging them to take pride in their precious surroundings.
“We have strict environmental guidelines and the whole operation has to adjust itself in terms of the processes; staff and employees have to learn and become very conscious of the environment, of the [impact of their] fairly routine habits when they come from the cities.
We run classes for the staff, they go with Lauren to get introductions and explanations — once you get more of an understanding of your environment you come to accept it easier, otherwise you sit on an island and start to get island fever,” says Kobos.
I was one of the first guests to visit Dusit Thani Maldives and the focus now is on getting all of the 100 villas open and spreading the word that the hotel is open. But Maldives remains a major luxury destination, and despite numerous openings this year alone — including Dubai’s Jumeirah and US chain Viceroy — Kobos says demand is more than enough to meet supply.
“It’s like if you throw a sponge in that water there,” he says when I ask about demand levels, pointing down at the crystal clear turquoise ocean. “When the season comes, boom, everybody’s full.”
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“While Europe is obviously more sensitive and unstable right now, Korea and China are growing in activity, in terms of outbound, so there is definitely still lots of room.
[We target] Europe, Eastern Europe, CIS, US, the biggest potential is China, as for everywhere else.
In Korea, there are lots of honeymooners, a younger mobile generation.
“The Gulf is somewhat limited, but there is of course [demand],” he continues. “There is no market that we would be disregarding, we are penetrating into a very thin layer of the community in each of these markets, it’s not the volume as such, it’s more the qualified, focused profile that identifies themselves.”
To target the Middle East, Dusit has opened a regional sales office in Dubai, with two sales managers actively targeting the tour operators and airlines, looking to bring both GCC nationals and expatriate residents to the property.
Of the competition in Maldives, Kobos adds: “With the other hotels here, all are unique, they have their own loyal customers and differentiation, which ones are better I can’t say.
“We are one of the larger ones as a resort and for first-time visitors larger islands are better, once you’ve been to Maldives then you can shift to something smaller. If you are a diver, you wil probably focus onto other aspects than the size – the resort and what you can find underneath, then the brand and the price — that’s how it works.
“We want to position ourselves with our neighbours, Four Seasons down the road, next to Anantara, another Thai company; we have good competition and that is all you need,” says Kobos.
The strong demand obviously justifies strong rates, he continues, with Dusit Thani Maldives currently offering stays from $563 per night in a beach villa to $975 for an ocean villa and up to $3075 for a Beach Residence — these rates include a 25% discount and breakfast as part of the Summer Splash-out promotion from May 1 to August 31.
This makes return on investment much faster than with city hotels, says Kobos, with returns “30-40% shorter than in the city”.
Global expansion
While the opening of Dusit Thani Maldives was a milestone in itself, for Dusit, it also marks a new era of expansion for the family-owned public company.
Maldives was the fourth country Dusit has entered outside of Thailand — the others being Egypt, Philippines and UAE — but over the next few years, it is expanding into several new territories, including China, India, US and Saudi Arabia.
In India, Dusit has six projects through a joint venture with Bird Group, with Dusit Devarana New Delhi — a 50-room boutique spa resort — opening this year.
Other hotels announced for India include Dusit Devarana Hotel Jaipur, Dusit Devarana Rishikesh, Dusit Thani Goa, as well as Dusit D2 New Delhi, with the D2 brand being the company’s “snappy, hip, younger, colourful, easy and relaxed” brand according to Kobos.
It is this brand that the company is also taking to California, with the Dusit D2 Pasadena signed, and there are a couple of D2 hotels expected in China too, along with the luxury Dusit Thani Hainan and Dusit Devarana Hainan.
In the Middle East, the focus remains on the core Dusit Thani brand, which launched in Dubai 10 years ago and is now planned for Abu Dhabi, believed to be opening this year, Jeddah and Bahrain.
Meanwhile, in Dubai, the hotel is undergoing a major guest room refurbishment expected to be completed by the end of 2012.
“Altogether in total we have about 13 projects [worldwide],” says Kobos.
“Bahrain is one of them but Bahrain is not really under anyone’s control, the island is just on hold.
“It’s a very ambitious project, very unique, focusing on medical tourism, the whole concept it really makes good sense and it’s interesting, but until the political situation settles down it doesn’t make much sense [to develop it].
“Jeddah is going forward, it’s been drawn up, partially built, so with that of course things are moving forward,” Kobos adds.
The new flags are all part of the company’s primary focus for 2012 — the development and expansion of Dusit brands into international arenas, as announced by the group’s CEO in March.
Dusit International’s asset in this will be its niche as a smaller operator, says Kobos.
“Our little niche is we are a small company, more of a family environment, so the partnerships have different values, not just a balance sheet and what comes to the bank — it’s really about the relationships and the value of the culture, philosophies, operating and owning,” he says.
In addition, everything the brand represents links back into its inherent Thai-ness, with the experience offered at Dusit overseas aiming to meld these Thai qualities with the culture of the location — just as has been achieved in the Maldives, where the blend of Maldivian and Thai hospitality works very well.
After all, I doubt there are many places where you can do a Thai cooking class and have a traditional Maldivian BBQ in one day?
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Dusit Thani Maldives Highlights
General manager: Andres Rubio, a Colombian national with 30 years’ experience in hotel operations.He has spent the past 12 years in Thailand working for TCC Land and Leisure Group.
Executive chef: Spanish chef Jaume Esperalba has previously worked for Six Senses, in Soneva Kiri, Thailand, and Soneva Fushi and Soneva Gili in the Maldives.
Location: Within the Bar Atoll, a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve.
Rooms: 100 villas comprising 31 Beach Villas, 15 Beach Villas with Pool, 30 Lagoon Water Villas, 20 Ocean Villas with Pool, two Ocean Pavilions with Pool and two Beach Residences with Pool.
F&B: Market, Benjarong, Sea Grill, Sand Bar and Sala Bar.
Recreation: Fitness studio, floodlit tennis courts, dive centre.
USPS: House reef encircling white sandy beaches, tree top Deverana spa, Thai restaurant Benjarong, variety of villa types and the largest pool in Maldives.
Dusit Portfolio
Dusit International currently operates 14 hotels in Thailand, three hotels in the United Arab Emirates and one in Manila, Philippines and one hotel in Cairo, Egypt.
OPENING SOON
India:
• Dusit Devarana New Delhi
• Dusit D2 New Delhi
China:
• Dusit Thani Hainan
• Dusit Devarana Hainan
United Arab Emirates:
• Dusit Thani Abu Dhabi
United States of America:
• Dusit D2 Pasadena, California
FUTURE OPENINGS:
India:
• Dusit Devarana Jaipur
• Dusit Devarana Rishikesh
• Dusit Thani Goa
Taiwan:
• Dusit Thani Hualien
• Dusit Thani HsinChu
Saudi Arabia:
• Dusit Thani Jeddah
Did you know?
Dusit offers free unlimited high-speed internet via wifi and wired internet to every guest throughout their stay at all Dusit hotels worldwide.
“Universal connectivity is no longer optional, it is imperative that all hotel guests are easily able to connect to the internet while they are away from their home or office, without paying exorbitant fees upon check out,” says Kobos.
“Offering complimentary internet service in today’s context is a basic amenity, just as is housekeeping and concierge services.”