Indian Hotels and Airlines Turning Tables On Phuket

For the past few years Thai hospitality companies such Centara, Dusit, Minor and even emerging boutique brands U Hotels & Resort and Ativa have been doing deals or tapping investment on the Indian subcontinent.
On the heels of the recent Travel Agents Association of India which hosted over 1000 Indian tourism players in Laguna Phuket the destination is creating waves back home.
A spate of island Bollywood weddings and high profile media sighting are fueling interest.
While to date global chain Taj is the sole brand India hotel who have a project in the southern part of the island. The rumor mill is now seeing names like luxury hotel brand Leela, the Bird Group and Kingfisher airlines banished about.
While these remain early days, from an investment standpoint it makes absolute sense for the Indian players to jump into the fray and get a portion of a market which is increasingly coming from there to here.