PHUKET: Centara Hotels and Resorts, which recently ''acquired'' West Sands Phuket Resort and Splash Jungle waterpark, continues to expand on Phuket. Its financial report for the latest year says occupancy rates averaged 58.1 percent, slightly down, while revenues turned up.


Here's the full media release:

Centara Hotels & Resorts has reached a total of 53 properties under its current five-year expansion plan, and has reported revenues of 4105 million baht for the financial year 2010, an increase of 6.3 percent over the previous year.

The company now has more than 10,000 rooms in hotel and resort properties in a total of eight countries, namely Thailand, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Of this total, Centara owns or part-owns 15 of the properties, with 38 being under management contract and 29 under construction.

Gerd Steeb, president of Centara Hotels & Resorts, announcing the results said that average occupancy was 58.1 percent, a slight decrease of 2.4 percent when compared to last year, but significantly above the average occupancy across the industry, which was 50.2 percent.

''Gross operating profit was 2227 million baht, an increase of 43 million baht over last year,'' he said.

Mr Steeb said that in the first half of 2011, income climbed to 2569 million baht, which was an increase of 25.8 percent compared to the first half of last year.

''In the first half of 2011 the average occupancy was 64.4 percent, an increase of 4.5 percent compared to the first half of the previous year,'' he said. ''This is higher than the average occupancy across the industry, which was 58.6 percent.''

Mr Steeb said that along with an expansion in the number of properties, there has also been the creation of two new brands under the Centara Hotels & Resorts group, namely the Centra value brand and Centara Residence & Suites.

''We currently have four Centra brand hotels,'' he said. ''Our first property is in Phuket, Centra Ashlee Patong, which officially opened in December last year. The other three are in Pattaya, Bangkok and Bali, all under construction and scheduled to open in 2012.

''Our second new brand, Centara Residence & Suites, is now in five locations, two being in Pattaya and one each in Phuket, Vietnam and Mauritius. These will open in 2014 and 2015.

''The properties under these two new brands are operated under management contract.''

During the first half of this year, Centara Hotels & Resorts has acquired an existing resort property on the island of Phu Quoc, in Vietnam. Rebranded as Chen Sea Resort & Spa Phu Quoc, Centara Boutique Collection, the resort presently has 39 rooms and an expansion plan for next year anticipates a further 90 rooms being added.

Another recent acquisition and rebranding has been Waterfront Suites Phuket by Centara, located at Karon Beach in Phuket, which has 39 rooms.

At the beginning of July, Centara Hotels & Resorts acquired a five-star resort at Mai Khao Beach in Phuket, which has been rebranded as Centara Grand West Sand Resort & Villas. The resort has a water park, and its current 316 rooms are expected to increase to 784 rooms by 2013.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, Centara Hotels & Resorts is scheduled to open four properties: Centara Hotel & Convention Cente Khonkaen, with 196 rooms; Baga Waterfront Resort & Spa Goa, Centara Boutique Collection, with 30 rooms; Nova Hotel & Spa Pattaya, Centara Boutique Collection, with 79 rooms; and Centara Hotel Manila, with 96 rooms.

Since the beginning of this year, Centara Hotels & Resorts has signed management contracts to operate 19 properties, categorised by Centara brand as follows:

Centara Grand Hotels & Resorts four properties:

Centara Grand Moringa Resort & Spa Phuket 350 rooms
Centara Grand Nusa Dua Resort & Villas Indonesia 90 rooms
Centara Grand Azuri Resort & Spa Mauritius 85 rooms.
Centara Grand West Sand Resorts & Villas Phuket 316 current rooms

Centara Hotels & Resorts eight properties:

Centara Anda Dhevi Resort & Spa Krabi, 138 rooms
Fisherman Harbour Hotel & Spa Patong by Centara 364 rooms
Centara Watergate Hotel & Spa Bangkok 288 rooms
Waterfront Suites Phuket by Centara 39 rooms
Centara Poste Lafayette Resort & Spa Mauritius 98 rooms
Centara Ceysands Resort & Spa Sri Lanka 160 rooms
Centara Passidukudah Resort & Spa Sri Lanka 115 rooms
Centara Waves Resort & Spa Sri Lanka 225 rooms

Centara Boutique Collection three properties:

Chen Sea Resort & Spa Phu Quoc, Centara Boutique Collection 90 rooms
Wuku Resort & Spa Bali, Centara Boutique Collection 182 rooms
Nakluea Hotel & Spa Pattaya, Centara Boutique Collection 106 rooms

Centra one property:

Centra Taum Seminyak Bali 90 rooms

Centara Residence & Suites three properties:

Centara Avenue Residence & Suites Pattaya 146 rooms
Centara Nha Trang Bay Residence & Suites Vietnam 530 rooms
Centara Grand Azuri Residence & Suites Mauritius 85 rooms

The group currently has a total of 46 properties which are under management contract, with 18 properties now opened.

Mr Steeb said that Centara Hotels & Resorts has now acquired a second Maldives property, Centara Giraavaru Resort & Spa Maldives, located in the South Male Atoll and only 15 minutes by speedboat from Male International Airport.

The resort has a total of 140 villas, 30 of them land villas and 110 over-water villas. There are restaurants and bars, a Spa Cenvaree, fitness centre, swimming pool, business centre, and diving and tourist information centre.

Centara Giraavaru Resort & Spa Maldives is currently under construction at a total investment cost of USD 53 million, and is due to open in the fourth quarter of 2012.

During the third and fourth quarter of this year, said Mr Steeb, the group's expansion plans will continue to move very strongly ahead, with the signing of three new management contracts, yet to be announced officially.

These include Centra Government Complex Hotel & Convention Centre Chang Wattana, which has already been announced in the press, with the management contract to be signed soon.

Centara Hotels & Resorts now has five brands:

Centara Grand: Categorised as 5-star hotels and resorts
Centara: Categorised as 4-star hotels and resorts
Centara Boutique Collection: Offers distinctive design while reflecting guests' independence of mind.
Centra: Indicates value end of the scale, rather than the 4-through-to-mid-5-star range.
Centara Residence & Suites: Designed to attract the corporate long-stay guest and deliver service and an efficient home-from-home experience.

Centara Hotels & Resorts is Thailand's largest operator of hotels, with 37 deluxe and first-class properties covering all the major tourist destinations in the Kingdom. A further 16 resorts in the Maldives, Philippines, Vietnam, Bali Indonesia, Srilanka and Mauritius Indian Ocean, brings the present total to 53 properties. Brands and properties within Centara ensure that specific categories such as couples, families, individuals, and meetings and incentives groups will all find a hotel or resort that is appropriate to their needs.

Centara operates 21 branches of Spa Cenvaree, one of Thailand's most luxurious and innovative spa brands, and the company's Kids' Club is available at all the family-friendly resorts to ensure that the youngsters and teens are taken care of. Centara Hotels & Resorts also operates two state-of-the-art convention centres in Bangkok, and one in Udon Thani in northeastern Thailand.