Astudo Hotel & Resort Group, Asia’s leading boutique hotel management company, discovers that the economic problems worldwide are proving to be a boom for hotel management services in the hospitality industry.
Anthony McDonald, CEO of Astudo Hotel & Resort Group, believes that ”the majority of the boutique hotels and resorts are struggling in this hostile economic market and many owners are now faced with the difficult decision to either close their doors or look for professional management and in particular international sales and marketing expertise”. He added that “With larger international hotels slashing room rates, boutique and midsized hotels and resorts were getting squeezed by the big guys”.
In Thailand, tourism continues to suffer from economic and political problems, resulting in fierce competition amongst hotels. There was a flurry of investment into the boutique market over the last decade, but most resorts and hotels failed to adequately differentiate them self and carve out their own market position. There was a tendency for owners just to copy other hotels rather than think about the longer term positioning of the property. “Owners were able to still achieve adequate performance when the market was good, but now that things are tougher, they are suffering due to poorly conceived concepts” said McDonald.
In this situation owners of boutique and midsized properties are increasingly distressed; financially, physically and emotionally. That has spurred demand for independent professional hotel management companies that have greater marketing, sales and operational resources.
According to McDonald, “the smaller hotels are in the vicious circle of not having the size and scale to undertake international marketing and sales, and therefore they don’t achieve the necessary financial returns required to operate the business at competitive levels. Lack of cash flow means low staff capability, lower service standards, insufficient marketing etc.”
Often boutique hotels throughout the world are independently branded and operated, creating a difficult situation to achieve the required economies of scale. Astudo has developed an interesting solution of being able to apply its globally recognised brands and service standards to properties ranging from 4 rooms up to 200, turning difficult and sometimes unprofitable resorts and hotels into successful and rewarding enterprises for their owners.
The Astudo brands were created to assist boutique properties in achieving the advantages that are enjoyed by international chains, but without the need to have large room numbers and huge investments in facilities. “With years of experience and a dedicated team of professionals in every corner of the field, Astudo offers the complete scope of services to match the owners/investors' exact requirements” McDonald added.
Astudo Hotel & Resort Group is a regional Asia Pacific hotel management, development and consulting group. In addition to providing hotel consulting and management for boutique and mid size hotels and resorts from 50 to 250 rooms. The group offers consulting, feasibility, brokerage and development services for Hotel owners and investors.
Anthony McDonald
Away Resort Pranburi
Le Bayburi The Sea Samui
Editor’s Note: Astudo Hotel & Resort Group (www.astudo.com) is one of the top hotel management companies in Thailand. Astudo manages 4 brands with several properties in a growing portfolio. X2 Resorts (www.X2resorts.com), Thailand’s first designer hotel chain, first launched in Kui Buri, Prachuap Khiri Khan, followed by Koh Samui, Suratthani and Rayong. Away Resorts (www.awayresorts.com), Tropical Polynesian favour resorts, first launched in Koh Kood, Trat and followed by Chumphon, Chiang Mai, Pranburi and Koh Pha-Ngan. Le Bayburi Residences (www.lebayburi.com), Luxury vacation residences, first launched in Pranburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan and followed by Koh Samui. The Case Hotels (www.thecasehotels.com), the new brand of urban business hotels with The Case Bangkok schedules to open in February 2009.
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