The GM Gang dinner for the month of February found hoteliers gathered at the newly opened boutique hotel right in the heart of Pattaya called the Centara Pattaya Hotel.
Host for the evening Austin Robinson, GM of the hotel, proudly showed off the new property to his guests saying, “The Centara Pattaya Hotel located behind the Bangkok Bank on Second Road is the brainchild of Rony Fineman, CEO of the Nova Group. This property is another one in the collection of boutique hotels under the Centara Hotels and Resorts Group.”
Prayuth Thamdhum, GM of The Montien Pattaya, Chatchawal Supachayanont, Jan and James Jeerapat owners of Hotel J, Pattaya.
He added, “We know that the domestic Thai market is strong during weekends. But the challenge is mid-week, so we are promoting meetings, incentives and conferences to be held at our property. We opened early this year and can boast of more than 80% occupancy already. Our main clients are from Turkey, India and Russia.
“We are still very new and are constantly fine tuning our operations. Our restaurants are up and running and we will soon have our second tower completed and ready for occupancy.
Friends congratulate Austin Robinson with ‘double whopper’ cakes on the opening of the Centara Pattaya Hotel.
Needless to say, members of the GM Gang were thoroughly impressed with the spread of international cuisine and all agreed that the kitchen at Centara Pattaya was indeed a 5 star one.
Chatchawal Supachayanont, GM of the Dusit Thani Pattaya and head of the GM Gang, was very positive and optimistic of the hotel business in Pattaya. “We are coming back as the leading destination compared to the other places in Thailand. We will see a lot of changes in the travel industry due to the uneasy business atmosphere in Europe. We cannot only rely on the leisure market in Pattaya. In 2012, we expect the MICE market in Pattaya to boom.
Alisa Phanthusak is the lovely rose between Tony Malhotra (left) and Michael Gunster (right)
“Our destination is now also very well known for sporting events. We recently hosted the PTT Pattaya Open 2012 for the 21st year. We also hosted the Honda LPGA Thailand 2012, and the Mercedes Benz Asian Master Final #10 international junior golf tournament will be held in June. We also host the annual Pattaya International Marathon and beach volleyball tournaments. So you see we are promoting Pattaya as a most popular destination for international sporting events.
“In addition Pattaya is already a popular place for both Thais and foreigners to invest in the real estate market and we will see a major boom in this sector too.”
Peter Malhotra interviews the two ‘iron ladies’ of the hotel industry, Bundarik Kusolvitya (left) president of the THA Eastern Chapter and Alisa Phanthusak (right) Asst. MD Woodlands Resort for PMTV.
Bundarik Kusolvitya, chairman of the Thai Hotels Association (Eastern Chapter) gave an insight into her responsibilities as head of the organisation. “People often think of us as living an easy life of luxury and fun, but the reality of the matter is we too have to work very hard to overcome many obstacles in our profession. These last 2 to 3 years were quite tough as you all know. We had on-going political problems and then came the floods. It was not easy. But we in the hotel and hospitality sector jointly confronted and solved the problems to sustain our businesses during those very tough times.
The GM Gang poses for a group picture expressing strong friendships and unity amongst hoteliers in Pattaya and the Eastern Seaboard.
“We hope that someday the government will understand the contributions and sacrifices we make towards the success of commerce in our country. Support from the public sector is still lacking in many departments and we hope that that will change for the better in the near future.”
Alisa Phanthusak, deputy managing director of Woodlands Resort and Tiffany’s Cabaret Show, summed it up with these words, “Pattaya is our home and we all have a moral duty and responsibility to play our part to make our home a most wonderful place for our citizens. We strive to make our visitors feel that Pattaya is their home away from home.”
