Minor International Pcl, one of Asia’s largest hotel resort operators, expects a record year for its hospitality business on pent-up travel demand and a recovery in Chinese tourists holidaying abroad.
Bookings across all of Minor’s markets, but especially Europe and Thailand, will remain high in 2023 after a strong recovery earlier this year, Chairman Bill Heinecke said Wednesday. The return of Chinese travelers, which may come as early as the third quarter, will also support further demand for accommodation, he said.
The Bangkok-based company joins global peers like Marriott International Inc. and Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. in reporting a travel boom that’s coincided with growing confidence among operators to raise room rates. Hotels in Asia are also eagerly awaiting a rebound in Chinese tourists, which is currently hamstrung by a slow recovery in flight capacity. Thailand’s tourism authority predicted earlier this month that arrivals from China are on course to hit 1 million a month from October — a level last seen before the pandemic.
“The summer will be very strong in Europe,” Heinecke, the American-born Thai founder of Minor, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. “I have no fear that we will have a record year” with the return of Chinese travelers later this year, he said.
The company is facing difficulties in hiring staff for its existing and new hotels as accommodation demand currently exceeds 2019 levels, he said.
Minor operates more than 530 hotels and resorts in 56 countries, as well as more than 2,500 casual dining and quick-service restaurants. Most of Minor’s business in Europe is through NH Hotel Group SA, which it acquired in 2018.
Minor reported a loss of 976 million baht ($28 million) in the three months ended March 31, narrowing from a 3.79-billion-baht loss in the same period last year due to a rebound in its hotel business in Europe, the Maldives and Thailand.
