True Arena Hua Hin, which officially opens tomorrow, includes a tennis stadium with a capacity of 5,088 seats, two big football pitches and a multi-sports gymnasium.

Proud Real Estate Co, owned by the Liptapanlop family, will continue to expand its hotel and leisure development in the South over the next five years.

Executive director Proudputh Liptapanlop said the company would build two leisure attractions as part of its vision to become the country's largest leisure developer in terms of revenue, visitor numbers and projects.

At least 1.2 billion baht will be spent on the two projects, whose locations have not been disclosed.

Proud's business model in Hua Hin, which comprises hotels, theme parks and condominiums, will be applied in other tourist destinations.

The company is also building a 3.5-star hotel, Holiday Inn Hua Hin, near Vana Nava water park. The 300-room hotel will be opened in the fourth quarter of next year, targeting family and local and foreign guests. A new condo is also planned for the area next year.

The developer expanded its business outside Bangkok with its first hotel in Hua Hin six years ago. It opened Vana Nava in 2014, while a sports centre named True Arena Hua Hin will officially open tomorrow.

Ms Proudputh said the company spent 500 million baht to build True Arena Hua Hin. The sports centre provides innovative facilities including a tennis stadium with a capacity of 5,088 seats, two big football pitches and a multi-sports gymnasium for activities including basketball, badminton, futsal and fitness.

"We aim for True Arena Hua Hin to become the best multi-sports complex in Asean. More importantly, it is our hope to inspire and provide an opportunity for tennis enthusiasts to become professionals by providing them with the best training facilities and a chance to participate in world-class events," she said.

Pasu Liptapanlop, another executive director, said Proud spent 500 million baht to renovate and add a new 40-room wing called Blue Port at its InterContinental Hua Hin Resort last year.

The company will continue to invest in Hua Hin even though the overall economy is not good.

Hua Hin is Thailand's eighth most popular tourist destination with 4.42 million visitors last year.

Proud is keen to invest because the global oil price is low and has reduced the prices of construction materials such as metal and concrete by 30% and 5-10%, respectively.

Apart from Hua Hin, the company plans to develop a new InterContinental Hotel in Kamala Beach on Phuket's eastern coast in the near future. The hotel will have a mixed-use concept comprising a condominium, retail space and other attractions.

"Phuket has huge opportunities as the island is nearly three times bigger than Bali, which welcomes 25 million tourists compared to 15 million in Phuket," Mr Pasu said.

Proud generated revenue of 850 million baht in 2015, of which 350 million came from InterContinental Hua Hin Resort and the remaining 500 million from Vana Nava theme park.

The company expects its revenue will increase by 5-10% this year.