Why Is It Getting Harder for Boutique Hotel Brands to Expand in Asia?
Photo Credit: Dream Hotel Bangkok, now 10 years old, will be renovated and repositioned Dream Hotel Group
Skift Take
Boutique American and European hotel brands aim to expand in Asia, but will soon realize it’s more difficult than they imagined, and it’s only going to get harder. Here’s why, and how they can make a go of it.
Dream Hotel Group, Standard Hotels, Ace Hotel, Trump Hotels, Caesars Entertainment, Nobu Hotels, CitizenM, Karl Lagerfeld Hotels, and Laura Ashley Hotels are among a growing list of boutique U.S. and European hotel brands that want to expand in Asia.
They aren’t wrong in thinking that brand novelty, coupled with the region’s robust pipeline, should unlock growth. But while Asian owners do have an appetite for new boutique brands with an entrepreneurial spirit, they aren’t themselves risk takers, say hotel consulting firms interviewed by Skift.
Owners, after all, are making a 15 to 20-year decision on a brand which, successful as it may be in its home ground, remains unproven outside. They question what is its scale, human resource network, distribution system, and support to owners?
Making it harder, global hotel chains are fielding their own boutique brands in Asia, with consolidation giving them expanded development teams and corporate offices in more places throughout
