Royal Orchid Sheraton Riverside Hotel is looking for a new investor, while Marriott International, which managed the hotel, is expanding in the region with the focus being on management and franchise contracts.
David Lance, general manager of Royal Orchid Sheraton Riverside Hotel Bangkok, said as the hotel is operated as a SET-listed company under Royal Orchid Hotel (ROH), with Grande Asset Hotels and Property being the major shareholder.
According to Grande Asset, it revealed earlier about the plan to look for investors to buy its stake in the property.
Last year, Grande Asset sold its stake in Hyatt Regency Bangkok Sukhumvit to Grand Residence International for 5.05 billion baht.
Brad Edman, market vice-president for Thailand, Cambodia and Myanmar at Marriott International, said Marriott has adopted an asset-light strategy and would continue to focus on working with hotel owners, such as Asset World Corp, Erawan Group and Grande Asset.
Therefore, it is not looking at becoming the new owner of Royal Orchid Sheraton Riverside Hotel as some rumours have suggested.
Royal Orchid Sheraton Riverside Hotel has undergone an 80-million-baht refurbishment of its meeting and event space, covering 2,800 square metres, in order to compete in the Mice (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) segment in Bangkok and riverside locations.
Mr Lance said as well as corporate meetings, which had been its main target in the past, the hotel could expect more weddings, while the overall number of events at the property should increase by 15-20% from the period prior to the renovation.
On Marriott's regional expansion plans, Mr Edman said the company would mainly focus on management contracts and franchises, accounting for 70% and 30%, respectively, of its newly added properties.
Marriott is now operating 70 hotels across three countries under his supervision, including 14 in the pipeline in Thailand.
He said the company is very bullish on Thai tourism growth as the Tourism Authority of Thailand raised its 2025 target for international arrivals to 40 million, while Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau is rolling out more marketing campaigns to attract corporate travellers.
Given Thailand is set to endorse same-sex marriage this month, Mr Edman said Thailand and hotels under the Marriott brand should expect more weddings from LGBTQ couples, particularly those hailing from the Asian market, such as China, Australia and Singapore. The company has also attended tourism and wedding events to promote its hotels in this segment.
Despite the negative travel sentiment among Chinese citizens due to safety concerns, he said Thailand is still a resilient market, with high demand flowing to Bangkok during the upcoming Chinese New Year.
