Dusit Hotels & Resorts has officially returned to India and is expanding across the country, said Deepika Arora, Head for India at Dusit International at a press conference on Thursday. 

“It is no secret that India’s hospitality landscape is thriving. The industry is set to reach $30 billion by 2028. Simply put, this is the time for Dusit to make its mark and we are doing it in our way with the focus on quality over quantity.”

The company opened dusitD2-branded hotel in Shimla last December. This was Dusit’s first operational property in India since the Dusit Devarana in Delhi was rebranded to The Roseate in 2016. 

“We say we are back in India because now, we have launched a property, have signed some 10 deals, so it is a big bang,” Arora told Skift in an interview.

Dusit is a Thailand-based hotel chain currently operational in 18 countries. In India, the company has 10 upcoming properties with an inventory of 800 keys. 

“We have returned to India with an evolved strategy and with a more evolved company. We have grown from four brands to eight,” she said. 

Siradej Donavanik, vice president – global development, said, “We are late in this re-entry, I will be the first to admit that. But we wanted to come back with a purpose.”

He told Skift that during the time when Dusit had closed operations, the company organized itself. “Now, we understand what the market requires for us to be successful.”

Why India? Why Now?

How will Dusit compete in India given the expanding hotel sector in India and growing competition from alternative accommodations? 

“We want to forge personalized connections and relationships through our hospitality,” Donavanik said.

The owner-operator company looks at local communities and incorporates those elements in order to make a property more unique. He said his team goes out into the neighborhood of a property to understand the local culture and set up and reflect that into the property. “We want to showcase the locality and the destination because that is what makes hospitality authentic.”

With Indian travelers increasingly looking for more immersive experiences even in their stays, he believes that Dusit’s focus on localization will give it an edge. “Every single hotel that we develop here, we do it in a very bespoke manner.”

He is also banking on the personalized service that they offer. “We recognize that every traveler has different needs and we want to cater to them. Hospitality should not be about fitting somebody’s needs within your box, and we are small and agile enough to adapt.”

According to Donavanik, these “old school hospitality principles” need to be brought back into fashion. “Technology is fine, but it should not be the end of where you want to go, it should just be a tool that promotes identity and locality,” he said. 

The Brand Strategy

While lifestyle upscale brand dusitD2 is operational in Shimla, the company is bringing more of its brands to India with the hotels it has signed. These include wellness luxury brand Devarana, lifestyle midscale brand Asai, upper midscale full-service brand Dusit Princess, and luxury brand Dusit Collection. 

“Our brand landscape pretty much caters to India’s current travel landscape,” said Arora. 

This bouquet of brands will help Dusit cater to different traveler segments in India. “The largest chunk of travelers in India is your middle class, and Dusit Princess and D2 can cater to them. Devarana can cater to specialized customers looking for that particular experience at a much higher bracket. Asai is for millennials, so we have got a brand for every one in terms of price segments,” Arora said. 

However, being a mid-market product, the company expects Dusit Princess to lead the expansion in India. “It has a huge potential to grow. Looking at some of the Tier-2 and 3 destinations, this brand is perfect for that because it is accessible and offers full service,” Donavanik said. 

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