Top Stories in Hotels: Hyatt’s Growth, Thailand’s Ambition, and First Hospitality’s Big Buy

Here are the top stories from the Daily Lodging Report newsletter in the past week. Get news on hotel deals, development, stocks, and career moves. Sign up here now.

Hyatt’s Growth

Hyatt Hotels Corporation said Monday it planned to build more than 30 hotels and resorts in North and South America through 2025. The properties skew toward appealing to luxury, lifestyle, and resort customers.

Properties include Hyatt Centric Santo Domingo; Cas en Bas Beach Resort; Thompson Houston; Thompson Palm Springs; Thompson South Beach; Caption by Hyatt Chattanooga Downtown; Hyatt Centric Escazu San Jose; Park Hyatt Los Cabos at Cabo del Sol; and Grand Hyatt Scottsdale Resort & Spa.

Hyatt’s Miraval Resorts & Spas, which focuses on wellness, has expanded. It opened Miraval Life in Balance Spa Aviara in the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort, Golf Club & Spa in Carlsbad, California, as the final phase of that property’s $60 million resort-wide renovation. Daily activities include sound bathing, chakra balancing, and breathwork.

Learn more about Hyatt’s strategy with its CEO, Mark Hoplamazian, speaks on-stage in New York City at Skift Global Forum next week.

Thailand’s Ambition

Thailand’s hotels may gain next year from government efforts to boost tourism. The country boldly forecasts it will draw 40 million visitors next year — meeting the record it set in 2019, the Bangkok Post reported. The move is ambitious because Thailand expects only 28 million foreign visitors this year, with 40% of its revenue generated from domestic tourists.

The government will roll out visa-free procedures for some nationalities on September 24, extending the program to China and Kazakhstan until February 29, 2024, Travel + Leisure Asia noted. The move promotes 30-day stays for tourism.

Marketing campaigns use Chinese stars to promote Thailand, especially on social media platforms. The country is also working to expand direct flights to secondary provinces.

Thai hotels could use the help. A survey by the Thai Hotels Association and Bank of Thailand found that 29% of hotels rated three stars or less suffered a severe impact from interest rate hikes and might need debt restructuring, The Bangkok Post reported. 

More people believe Thailand will legalize casino gambling within three years, Daily Lodging Report Founder and Editor Alan Woinski noted. “International casino companies like Las Vegas Sands, Hard Rock, and Galaxy Entertainment are all ready to pounce,” he wrote.

But not all of the news is good for hotels. New ministerial regulations may allow short-term accommodation with no more than eight rooms and 30 guests to be excluded from the hotel business. The goal is to boost local homestays with unique services even though the government will lose tax revenue, said the Bangkok Post.

First Hospitality’s Big Buy

First Hospitality announced an agreement to acquire the majority of the assets of Hostmark Hospitality Group, reported CoStar’s Hotel News Now. The deal adds 17 hotels, including more than 10,000 rooms at properties — especially in California, Texas, and Florida.

First Hospitality is a Chicago-based company that owns “hundreds of millions of dollars” in real estate and is also a third-party operator of roughly 50 hotels.

Before the transaction, Skift interviewed the president and CEO, David Duncan about his strategy at First Hospitality.