Stephan Vanden Auweele Leaves Asset World Corp
Stephan Vanden Auweele: “We have benchmarked all our hotels to international standard, and increased synergies and efficiencies across the properties.”
18 July 2022
Stephan Vanden Auweele has resigned from Asset World Corp (AWC) after nearly four years as its chief hospitality group officer.
AWC, the hospitality and property firm of Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakd, currently has 19 hotels with 5,200 rooms in operation in Thailand under the brands of Marriott International, Hilton, IHG, Banyan Tree Holdings, Okura and Melia Hotels International.
Vanden Auweele was responsible for the overall operation of all the hotels and future developments in the group, which are considerable.
When approached, he told Hotels-Asia that after nearly four “intensive” years, it was time to unwind and “refocus on what’s important in life.” He has been approached by several investment companies and large operators but would like to take “some time off” before reviewing the options, he said.
Less than a year after Vanden Auweele joined AWC, the company raised $1.3 billion (48 billion baht), in September 2019, to expand its hotel and retail business. The IPO was Thailand’s biggest listing of an individual company.
Its stated target was to double the number of rooms to 8,500, and increase retail space to 415,000sqm from 165,000sqm by 2024.
Thus far AWC has kept to the plan. Since 2018, it has signed 20 hotel projects representing more than 6,000 rooms, said Vanden Auweele. The latest was in May, involving the full renovation of the former 124-room Imperial Hua Hin, which will be rebranded Kimpton Hua Hin Resort when it opens in 2024. The hotel was closed in May 2019.
Despite the pandemic which ravaged Thailand’s 40 million arrivals a year record in 2019, AWC opened its Melia Koh Samui and Banyan Tree Krabi in 2020. Last year saw the opening of the company’s Courtyard Phuket and Melia Chiang Mai. This year will see the opening of its Innside Sukhumvit and Intercontinental Chiang Mai, Vanden Auweele said.
“We have benchmarked all our hotels to international standard, and increased synergies and efficiencies across the properties. Most hotels are the leader in their category. Our RGI [Revenue Generation Index] has increased 25 points,” he said. RGI measures the RevPAR versus competitors’ RevPAR.
On his replacement, Vanden Auweele said, “This is the decision of the company, which will surely review the best option to bring the company to new heights.”
AWC reported a 200 percent increase in net profit in the first quarter to $17.6 million (645 million baht) over first quarter 2021. Total revenue rose 151 percent to $76 million (2,782 million baht).
The company said recovery began in late 2021. While there was a surge in Omicron, the symptoms were milder and Thailand’s vaccination rate was also higher. Thailand’s move to ease entry restrictions for international visitors proved favorable and the company said it expects “a fast business recovery this year and [to] grow rapidly in the future.”
It also attributed the growth in total revenue to “significantly” improving occupancy in the high-end segment, a key target of AWC’s hospitality business, in the first quarter over 1Q21. Hotels in this group performed significantly better in the competitive set, and one actually achieved the highest RGI rating of 245.9.