U Sathorn eyes guests from West
U Sathorn Bangkok, a hotel under the U Sathorn chain, is mapping out business strategies for this year with a focus on online reservations and increasing the number of Western guests to reach the revenue target of 215 million baht.
Hotel general manager Markus Schneider said the hotel plans to lower the percentage of total bookings from online travel agents such as Agoda and Booking.com from 60% to 50% for the hotel’s fiscal year, which runs from April 2017 to March 2018.
The hotel wants to increase its online direct reservations from its own website from 5% to 10% of total bookings by the first quarter of next year.
Mr Schneider said the hotel aims to increase the share of Western guests from 30% to 50% of the total because they average longer stays than Asian guests and consume more food, drinks and minibar items.
Moreover, the hotel plans to increase its corporate business guests from 5% to 9% by early 2019.
U Sathorn Bangkok already offers free minibar service for terrace garden view and suite rooms, as well as ice cream service four times a day for guests at the swimming pool. Another perk is 24-hour check-in and check-out.
“Through these strategies, the hotel was able to increase room rates to as high as 25% starting from last October,” Mr Schneider said.
This fiscal year, the hotel aims for total revenue of 185 million baht. The revenue is expected to increase to 215 million baht during the next fiscal year or 14% up for this year.
U Sathorn hotel chain is owned by U City Plc, the sister company of SET-listed BTS Group Holdings Plc, which has leased a plot from the Treasury Department for a 30-year contract to build the hotel. The land lease contract will end in 2044.
BTS chairman Keeree Kanjanapas holds a 70% stake of the hotel, while the remaining 30% is owned by an investor who also owns Absolute Hotel Services.
Mr Keeree said recently that U City was likely to acquire more hotel chains in Europe, which could be worth up to 10 billion baht. The move is part of BTS’s expansion plans in Europe after taking stakes in Vienna International Hotel Management AG in early 2017.
Absolute Hotel Services signed a management deal with U Sathorn Bangkok, using the U Hotels and Resorts brand to manage eight hotels in Thailand. These hotels comprise two each in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, and one each in Khao Yai, Kanchanaburi, Phuket and Pattaya.