Centara Hotels & Resorts, has announced the appointment of Allen Thomas as Vice President Business Development, starting from January 1, 2018.

Thomas has 28 years of experience developing hotel and resort businesses, a career that includes positions with HPL and Como Hotels and most recently Resorts Holdings International. His appointment marks another significant Centara move in their five year plan to double the companys size and become a major regional hospitality brand.

Mr. Thomas will report to Centaras Deputy CEO Markland Blaiklock. He will be responsible for executing the companys plan to grow from 58 to 134 hotels over the next five years. Mr. Blaiklock himself was brought on board in October to lead the expansion strategy.

In the weeks since then, Centara has already launched its new affordable lifestyle hotel brand COSI; signed a joint venture to take ownership of Centra by Centara Government Complex Hotel & Convention Centre Cheang Watthana; announced a significant upgrade of its technology infrastructure in partnership with Oracle and IDeaS; and finalised an agreement with Nakheel to develop a family lifestyle resort in Dubai.

"Allen is a tenured industry expert with an impressive track record of growing the brand footprint of hotel and resort businesses in Asia and beyond. We are confident of meeting our expansion targets with a professional of Allen's calibre leading our Business Development division" Remarks Centara's CEO, Mr. Thirayuth Chirativat 

With this latest appointment, Centara's management team is almost complete following its recent reorganisation. The company is building a diverse and experienced leadership structure to set it up for continued future success.

Centara Hotels & Resorts is dedicated to providing exceptional service in unique and sophisticated environments.  As a Thai hospitality management and holding company it places a strong emphasis on providing Thai-influenced hospitality and its inimitably warm and gracious service style across all of its brands, whilst embracing, and maintaining a sense of place in the local environment of each property and resort. Centara has a dynamic portfolio with a mix of resorts and city centre hotels. 

The opening of  its first overseas hotel in 2009, the five-star Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa Maldives proved an immediate success and Centara has since been  committed to strategic expansion in the Indian Ocean region, as well as the ASEAN region, China and the Middle East, whilst continuing to add to its portfolio in Thailand. Currently, there are a total of 67 properties in the domestic and international Centara portfolio, 37 in operation and 30 under development.

Operating properties are in Thailand, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Oman and the Maldives with development underway for hotels and resorts in these markets as well as additional new markets including Laos, Indonesia, Qatar, UAE, China, Cuba and Turkey.