THAILAND TRAVEL NEWS: Swiss-based hotel management group, Golden Tulip, will take over two Pattaya hotels from the beginning of March, brining to three the number of properties the group manages.

The agreement will see the Royal Orchid Pattaya re-branded as the Golden Tulip Resort Pattaya, while The Erawan Hotel Pattaya will be re-named the Golden Tulip Erawan Hotel.

Mark van Ogtrop, managing director of Golden Tulip Southeast Asia, said both Pattaya hotels will undergo extensive renovations prior to re-opening in early March.

Mr van Ogtrop said the latest additions to the Golden Tulip brand in Thailand displayed to the travel industry that the company was putting serious resources into finding partners in the region.

“We have a mandate to expand the Golden Tulip brand in Southeast Asia and these newly signed Pattaya properties signal a significant start to this strategic process. We will have some exciting announcements about more hotels to be made in the very near future.

“Thailand, with its robust travel industry, is a key market for us, but we are also talking to a number of property owners and developers in Singapore, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia and Indonesia”, he said.

The signing of the two Pattaya hotels follows Golden Tulips successful take-over of the management of The Mangosteen Resort & Spa in Phuket at the start of this month.

Owned by Starwood Capital Group, the investment firm behind brands such as Westin, Sheraton, W Hotels, The St. Regis, Le Meridien, The Luxury Collection and Four Points by Sheraton, the Golden Tulip group manages more than 780 hotels and 75,000 rooms in more than 50 countries.

By John Le Fevre

Thailand Travel News for February 10, 2010