Thailand’s Absolute Hotel Services Group (AHS) has teamed up Travelodge Hotels Asia to form Travelodge Thailand, a joint venture to bring the Travelodge brand to the Kingdom, TTG Asia reported. The partnership will see AHS extend its presence into Thailand where it already operates several hotel brands.
The agreement will see four brands will be entering the Thai market with the group hoping to have at least 4000 rooms by the end of the decade. The brands include Nano by Travelodge, One by Travelodge and Skye by Travelodge as well as the main Travelodge brand, and they will range from lower-end hotels to upper-midscale properties with various design concepts, TTG Asia added.
Explaining the introduction of Travelodge into the Thai market, Jonathan Wigley, CEO of AHG, pointed out that he expects Travelodge to fit in well in the country as tourism continues to grow.
“Thailand continues to be one of Asia’s most popular holiday and business destinations. Travel and tourism is a key contributor to the Thai economy and the country’s GDP,” he told the website. “Specifically, the midscale hotel segment that Travelodge and its three sub-brands operate in is expected to fit in well with the travel demographics of Thailand. We are excited to bring in a new international brand to Thailand and we target over 4000 keys in Thailand for Travelodge by 2020.”
There are almost 1000 Travelodge-branded hotels worldwide with a majority being found in the USA and Canada. Holiday Inn and Best Western are two similar US-based brands already operating in Thailand.
The decision to bring Travelodge into the country will expand AHS’s growing portfolio of hotels. The company also owns the Eastin Grand Hotels, Eastin Hotels & Residences, Eastin Easy and U Hotels & Resorts brands with a majority of those properties located in Thailand, Vietnam, India and Indonesia. The company has a select number of properties in Europe and the Middle East as well.
