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Business Divisions
Type of Business
Hotel Operations
Hotels
The Group has ownership in 5 hotels in Phuket and 1 hotel in Bangkok all of which are top-tier and luxury villa properties. Each of the hotels offer deluxe and superior suites, exclusive villas and residences which also include bars & restaurants, swimming pools, fitness centres, meeting rooms & facilities, business centres, etc. During the year, the Group divested of its ownership in the Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket.
Hotel - related operations
Laguna Phuket is operated under an integrated resort concept, along with many hotel-related facilities which are also provided to support the concept. All of these facilities are owned and operated by the Group, except, Laguna Phuket Golf Club which is managed by Banyan Tree Resorts & Spas (Thailand) Company Limited.
Property Development Operations
Property Sales
Property Sales offers a range of residential and vacation properties such as apartments, semi-detached and detached villas including hotel residences such as the high-end Dusit Thani Pool Villas and Banyan Tree Residences that are situated within a resort or hotel property. Investors in Laguna properties have the option to receive a return on their investment by joining a hotel management scheme and renting their properties to guests. The current developments available for sale are the following.
Estate Service Management
A vital differentiation from other property developers, Laguna Property Management and Estate Services started operation in 2007 to provide services to the customers who buy properties within Laguna Phuket. The services comprise of pool maintenance, handyman services, ground and landscape maintenance, engineering services and common area management.
Holiday Club Business
Holiday Club operations are conducted through Laguna Holiday Club Limited for operations in Thailand and PT. AVC Indonesia for operations in Indonesia.
Laguna Holiday Club commenced operations in 1998 selling memberships that entitle participants to annual vacations at the participating member resorts of Laguna Holiday Club Phuket Resort, Best Western Allamanda Laguna Phuket, Sheraton Grande Laguna Phuket, Sheraton Private Pool Residences, Angsana Resort & Spa Bintan, Springfield Cha-am, Chiang Mai Twin Peaks, Boathouse Hua Hin and View Talay Pattaya. Members also have access to over 4,000 resorts in more than 100 countries through reciprocal arrangements with RCI and Interval International. Laguna Holiday Club currently has 2 sales offices / branches located in Laguna Phuket and Bangkok.
Office Rental
Strategically located on South Sathorn Road, Thai Wah Tower I is a 24-storey granite clad building and is one of the very first office condominium buildings in Bangkok. The entire building has approximately 20,000 sq.m. of usable area of which 15,389 sq.m. is owned by the Group. Through the years the building has maintained its reputation as a premium office building with timely refurbishments.
Overseas Investment in Hotels and Resorts
Banyan Tree Lijiang, opened in 2006, is a joint venture company incorporated in the People’s Republic of China between Laguna Banyan Tree Limited (”LBTL”), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, and Banyan Tree Holdings Limited (”BTH”). The property features 126 luxurious villas, restaurants, bar, spa complex, gallery shop, gym, treks and tours.
Otherwise, LRH invests overseas through Tropical Resorts Limited (“TRL”) and Bibace Investments Ltd (“BI”) which invests in luxury resorts largely throughout the Pacific Rim area.
Developments in 2010
The Company disposed of the Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket in October 2010 for Baht 2.6 billion. The rationale for the divestment was that the Company was too reliant on the Company’s business operations in Phuket which account for the majority of Company’s income and is therefore vulnerable to any adverse events which impact the Thai tourism industry such as the political protests which occurred during May.
In property development, construction of the first Lofts at Laguna Village building comprising 25 units commenced. A total of 15 properties were sold during the year. Demand remained subdued to the continuing effects of the global economic downturn and was further exacerbated by the political protests in Bangkok during the year and resulting lower levels of investor confidence due to the political uncertainty. The strength of the Thai Baht has also resulted in properties being less affordable for many potential buyers, who are predominantly foreign.
Laguna Holiday Club business levels were also affected by the above factors. As a result, operations were scaled by closing the Bintan and Hua Hin branches.