Ambitious woman CEO aims to take Dusit brand to global heights
On the 19th episode of Business Story, Suphajee Suthumpun, Group Chief Executive Officer at Dusit Thani Public Company Limited, discusses the past, present, and future of Dusit Thani.
Dusit Thani: From past to present
Dusit Thani was founded in 1948 by Thanphuying Chanut Piyaoui, a lady with a vision and strong passion, established Princess Hotel on Charoen Krung Road in 1948. Since then the group has been in the hotel business and hospitality services for more than 70 years.
Today, Dusit Thani is the leading hospitality company listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand; and along with fellow peers in the hospitality industry, Thailand has now become one of the most visited countries in the world.
Suphajee Suthumpun stated that Dusit Thani started from a single hotel in a corner of Bangkok 74 years ago and since then the group has grown rapidly, now expanding to 333 properties across 17 countries.
Dusit Thani currently manages 48 hotels across 5 brands, including full service hotels, luxury hotels, wellness-focused hotels, and lifestyle hotels for millennial travelers. And with Dusit Thani’s recent acquisition of Asia's largest villa management company Elite Havens in 2018, the group has reached new heights.
Apart from hotel management, Suphajee Suthumpun asserted that Dusit Thani has been focusing on education since 1993.
The group provides education on hotel management, hospitality, and culinary programs; and has over 3,000 students in their system each year. Suphajee Suthumpun further mentioned that Dusit Thani also began expanding into food business and real estate development a few years ago.
Dusit Central Park:
With Dusit Thani’s vision “uniquely delivering gracious hospitality to the world”, the group is now expanding with their new project: Dusit Central Park.
Suphajee Suthumpun stated that the location of Dusit Central Park is one of the project’s strengths. Located in Bangkok’s CBD, which is the most convenient spot in Bangkok, the project is accessible by both the underground train and skytrain.
Residences will be divided into 2 living concepts: one residence aims at the younger generations who desire urban lifestyle with luxury services, the other aims at those with bigger families who desire larger living spaces. All residences will be provided 24/7 service by the Dusit hotel.
Suphajee Suthumpun stated that the key for this project lies in the integration between legacy, heritage, and future. Finding the balance between heritage and future is viewed as a critical point for Dusit Thani; it needs to capture new customers while giving the experiences that they had delivered to their past customers.
In areas of architecture, the group consulted with experts in determining which elements should be kept to represent Dusit Thani’s past legacy, and which elements to be added to keep up with the ages.
The pandemic, technology disruption, and shift in consumer preference:
When asked of the challenges Dusit Thani faced during the past 2-year pandemic, Suphajee Suthumpun replied that this period had given Dusit Thani the opportunity to reflect and look into their business model and address the change in consumer expectation and preference.
With technology disruption, Dusit Thani now focuses on collaboration with strategic partners, integrating innovation to deliver to customers, and contribution in growing together with the country, industry, and community.
Suphajee Suthumpun asserted that collaboration, innovation, and contributions all lead to the main objection: to expand, diversity, and balance Dusit Thani’s portfolio.
Suphajee Suthumpun also discussed the change of consumer behavior towards personalized experience. Dusit Thani now aims to understand personal preferences instead of doing mass campaign market segmentation. For insights to customers preferences, Dusit Thani has been spending budget to address data collection and capabilities for the past two years.
Follow the full inteview video episode in Business StoryBusiness Story: Dusit Central Park
