Championing Centara’s distinctive and personalised Thai hospitality

In a freewheeling conversation, Michael Henssler, COO, Centara Hotels and Resorts, shares more about the popular Thai hotel brand, its warm hospitality, and the reason to celebrate Centara as “the place to be”.

Brand TD: Kindly elaborate on the USP of Brand Centara, where and how many hotels do you have?
Michael Henssler (MH): Centara Hotels and Resorts are a family run business. The business is built upon traditional family values of caring, sharing and a sense of belonging. We are committed to deliver world-class service through our signature warm hospitality and authentic Thai family values.

Infusing our authentic family values into every touchpoint of the guest journey, every Centara property aspires to create a sense of belonging with care. We share our rich Thai heritage with the world through our distinctive brands. We bring intuitive living spaces to life, inspiring togetherness among friends and family. With a personable approach to hospitality, we celebrate Centara as the place to be.

Centara Hotels & Resorts is Thailand’s leading hotel operator with 95 properties across all major destinations in Thailand. Internationally, we also have our Hotels and Resorts in thirteen countries including the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, China, Japan, Oman, Qatar, Cambodia, Turkey and the UAE.

Centara’s portfolio comprises six brands – Centara Reserve, Centara Boutique Collection, Centara Grand, Centara, Centara Life and COSI Hotels – ranging from luxury island retreats and upscale family resorts to affordable lifestyle concepts.

In the portfolio we have a total number of 95 hotels which comprise of 20,189 keys, out of this 23 are owned and run by us, while 72 are managed by us. Currently out of total number of hotels, 51 Hotels comprising of 11,027 keys are in operation and 44 Hotels comprising 9,162 keys are in the pipeline.

Brand TD: What is your vision as the COO for the Company?

MH: At Centara Hotels & Resorts, our vision to become a top 100 global hotel operator of Thai origin by 2027. For the same we hope to double Centara’s total portfolio. We hope to deliver new hotel management contracts in dynamic destinations and exciting new international markets, through Centara’s collection of six brands and new sectors.

Our team is our backbone, and we want to keep being “The Place To Be – Best Workplace” for all of our employees.

We dedicatedly provide locally relevant, Thai-inspired experiences in each of our global destinations. On this continuous journey of expansion, our traditional family values will remain in the heart of everything we do across all brands.

Brand TD: Where do you get your maximum bookings from? Can you elaborate on the mix or guests, families, independent or business travellers? Which other source markets are you targeting?

MH: See we get the maximum bookings from Retail which is 54 per cent, which includes, the hotel website and OTAs. We get Wholesale bookings of  about 37 per cent; Group 7 per cent and Corporate 2 per cent.

As we have six different brands, they all cater to the needs of different segments, may that be independent travellers, families or business travellers. If we look into details, majority of our hotels are located in leisure destination while two of our hotels, Centara Grand in Centre of Bangkok (Centara Grand & Bangkok Convention Centre at CentralWorld, and Centara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao Bangkok) see more of business travellers visiting.

The vast majority of our loyalty members, play a big supporter in filling domestic tourist numbers. And the extensive growth in overseas, the aggressive commercial approach is the key to bring in more business. 

Brand TD: What have been your ARR and RevPAR across 2023?

MH: For 2023, the ADR (ARR) range from 3,770 to 4000 Thai baht (THB) and RevPAR has been 2,429.

Brand TD: Can you elaborate on the positive and negative aspects of running hotels in Thailand?

MH: Thailand is the most sophisticated market when it comes to service and has a wide range of culinary offerings. The government of Thailand and Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) play a major role in supporting the tourism and hospitality industry and encourage entrepreneurs.

Post Covid the challenge remains that few source markets have not yet fully recovered. The huge numbers of Chinese Tourists have yet to return. Also, the competition has revved up. Neighbouring destinations like Vietnam are replicating Thai service to compete for the existing business.

Brand TD: What trends in hospitality do you see going forward in 2024, in Thailand as well as globally?

MH: Technology will be a driving force, enhancing guest experiences through AI, AR, voice tech, and contactless services. Green initiatives will continue to take centre stage.

Demand for locally sourced food and experiences will continue to grow. There will be a bigger focus on health-centric products and services and consumers will expect more personalised service.

Brand TD: Anything you would like to say about hospitality?

MH: A hotel can be so much about joy and happiness. There can be such a magical romanticism attached to it. We all are human and have the need to connect and network, the hotel business provides you with this very opportunity to meet numerous people.

People congregate to eat, be merry, make remarkable memories, make deals, grow business. As hoteliers we provide the perfect ambience, location, and destination for them to be able to do this. As a reward you get to be a part of these stimulating get togethers, high energy meetings, mesmerising events, and positive vibes.