Dusit International expands presence in India

Thailand headquartered hotel and property development company Dusit International is making an India comeback and has signed six new hotels for India encompassing about 800 keys.

The company launched upscale hotel dusitD2 Fagu, Shimla last year and its new signings are spread across locations such as Raipur, Bhiwadi, Kolkata, and Lonavala.

The upper-midscale Dusit Princess brand will debut in Raipur, Bhiwadi, Kolkata, and Lonavala. Two boutique luxury properties under the recently introduced Dusit Collection brand will be launched in Kasol and Manali. Besides the six new signings announced on Thursday, the chain has also signed three properties in Karnataka including the wellness-focused Devarana Sakleshpur, Karnataka – A Dusit Retreat, which is set to open in 2028, and two upcoming Dusit Princess Hotels & Resorts.


“India is one of the biggest markets in Asia. We always knew that we had to be here. Our last foray here did not work out like a business deal, but the long absence helped us organise ourselves,” said Siradej Donavanik, vice president, development (Global) at Dusit International. The 76 year old company was founded by Donavanik’s grandmother, Thanpuying Chanut Piyaoui.

“We invested quite a bit on our infrastructure- from IT to brand architecture, and we have completely revamped all these things over the last five years. We have diversified our businesses to ensure that when we come back we are ready with a renewed sense of purpose and a different value propositions that we did not have before,” he added. The company is also into villas and branded residences. Dusit International has about 60 hotels in its portfolio and about 230 luxury villas and estates. It also manages branded residences for third parties. The company has hotels across 18 countries and it owns about one third of the hotels in its portfolio.

Dusit International also aims to target tier two and tier three destinations in India where luxury and upscale hospitality options are currently limited. The company’s brand portfolio spans the ultra-luxury Devarana – Dusit Retreats to upper midscale and midscale brands such as Dusit Princess and ASAI Hotels. Dusit’s entry into the Indian market forms part of its broader expansion strategy targeting other ‘high-growth’ markets such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Japan, and China. The company plans to sign more than 100 hotels globally over the next five years.

“Now, we have brands that we never had before. We have a diversified healthy balance of hotels between resort and city locations which is about 50:50. That can help us expand into remote locations and tier two, tier three markets in India,” said Donavanik.

All of Dusit’s new signings are under management agreements in India but the company would be open to exploring investment opportunities as well, said Donavanik.

Beyond immediate expansion, Dusit said it is focused on building an ‘integrated hospitality ecosystem’ in India, where luxury stays, holistic wellness, refined gastronomy, and hospitality education will converge.

The company said through Dusit Hospitality Education, it will also focus on local talent development for Indian hospitality professionals.