Half of the Dusit Thani Hua Hin's 190 rooms will be closed for renovation by the end of June, to reopen in October.

Dusit Thani Plc plans to splurge at least 2.6 billion baht to expand its hotel and residential business over the next 1-2 years.

Of the total, about 300 million baht will be spent to renovate the Dusit Thani in Hua Hin, said Suphajee Suthumpun, group chief executive.

Dusit Thani Hua Hin has 190 rooms and half of them will be closed for renovation by the end of June, reopening in October.

Some 1 billion baht will be spent on the new residential development of 18 rai in the same area as Dusit Thani Hua Hin, possibly later this year or next year, while about 300 million baht is allotted for major renovation of Dusit Thani Pattaya under the new concept next year.

The company is considering building a new residential project on a 30-rai plot in the same area of Dusit Thani Pattaya.

Ms Suphajee said Dusit Thani Pattaya has 400-500 rooms. The occupancy rate is 80-90%.

"Tourism in Pattaya remains in good condition," she said. "The government's flagship Eastern Economic Corridor scheme has drawn more people to Pattaya. Moreover, there are many attractions and entertainment venues available in Pattaya."

Ms Suphajee said the company plans to open 10-12 new hotels a year during 2019-20.

Dusit Thani has already opened five new hotels in the first five months of this year, including two hotels in the Philippines, one in Doha, one in Dubai and one in Bangkok. The remaining 5-7 hotels will open in the second half of the year, including three hotels in China, one in Singapore and another in Bahrain.

The company plans to open the first Dusit Thani hotel in Japan in 2021 via a joint venture with Color International. It also plans to build Devarana, a resort and wellness hotel, in Chiang Mai and Samui over the next 2-3 years.

In addition to the hotel, Ms Suphajee said the company is seeking one or two business partners with which to co-develop residential projects soon.

This excludes new residential projects co-developed with Ananda Development Plc and scheduled to launch in the third quarter of this year.

Ananda spent 510 million baht to buy a 5% stake in Dusit Thani in February.

"We are expanding with more residential projects because they can generate sales in a short period of time, unlike hotels, which produce revenue in the longer term," Ms Suphajee said.

She said the expansion plan is part of the company's strategy to drive sales of Dusit Thani to continuously grow by 8-10% a year during 2020-21, despite the closure of the Dusit Thani hotel on Silom Road.

The company's revenue was 5.5 billion baht last year, with 85% from hotel business.