Dusit's Donavanik leads HICAP award winners

In addition to great networking and content this week at the 33rd annual Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) in Singapore, organizers The BHN Group announced the winners of the Deal of the Year Awards, the Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2023 Sustainable Hotel Awards.

Lifetime Achievement

Chanin Donavanik, vice chairman of the Board of Directors and chairman of the Executive Committee and former CEO of Dusit International, was awarded the HICAP Lifetime Achievement Award, honoring exceptional individuals who have distinguished themselves through their accomplishments and contributions to expanding, enhancing, and advancing the hotel industry in the Asia Pacific region.

Today, Donavanik continues to uphold the values and vision introduced more than 70 years ago by his mother, Thanpuying Chanut Piyaoui, who founded the company in 1948.

Dusit International, or Dusit Thani Public Co. Ltd., is a leading hospitality group listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Its operations comprise five distinct yet complementary business units: Dusit Hotels and Resorts, Dusit Hospitality Education, Dusit Foods, Property Development, and Hospitality-Related Services.

A prominent figure in Thailand’s tourism industry for many years, Donavanik previously served as president of both the Thai Hotels Association and the ASEAN Hotel and Restaurant Association, and chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce’s Tourism & Service Business Committee. Currently, he serves as a director for the European Committee of the Board of Trade of Thailand. In the public sector, Donavanik served as a member of the National Legislative Assembly in 2006.

Over the past few years, Donavanik has served as an Advisory Board member of the Baptism Development Project in Jordan, initiated by His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan, to develop the Baptism Site of Jesus as a global destination for spiritual tourism.

Best deals, development

The HICAP Deal of the Year Awards highlight the most dynamic deals and developments and honor the ongoing achievements of industry leaders.

Capella Sydney was named Reggie Shiu Development of the Year. Developed by Pontiac Land Group and opened on March 15, 2023, the project, developed for more than A$300 million, is an exemplar of adaptive re-use, converting an historic government building into a hospitality destination. The project demonstrated how civic buildings can be honored while also being repurposed for future generations, contributing to the heritage fabric of the city. The refurbishment and creation of new hospitality venues opens a previously inaccessible building to the public. The reinvention engages guests in the narrative of the historic building and integrates carefully crafted heritage elements to provide a luxurious hotel environment. Finalists in the category also included Pan Pacific Orchard in Singapore and Pullman Singapore Orchard in Singapore.

Single Asset Transaction of the Year Award (l. to r.): Judging panel member and presenter Lada Shelkovnikova, Watson, Farley & Williams; accepting on behalf of The RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka, Abhijay Sandilya, Japan & Micronesia at IHG Hotels & Resorts; and Jonathon Zink, The BHN Group.

The RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka in Osaka, Japan was named Single Asset Transaction of the Year. On March 31, 2023, BentallGreenOak (BGO) acquired a 1,039 room Osaka landmark from Royal Hotel KK. The transaction was privately negotiated, and the price was undisclosed. Simultaneously with the acquisition, BGO entered into a capital alliance with Royal Hotel KK and became a 33% shareholder (and the largest shareholder) of the Tokyo Stock Exchange-listed hotel management company. As new owner of The RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka, BGO has already begun a transformational JPY 13.5 billion renovation of the hotel, and upon completion will rebrand it as The RIHGA Royal Hotel Osaka, Vignette Collection. The RIHGA Royal Osaka will be IHG’s first Vignette Collection hotel in Japan and IHG’s largest hotel in the country. Finalists in the category also included Harbour Rocks Hotel in The Rocks, Australia and Havodda Maldives Resort in the Maldives.

Seibu portfolio in Japan was named Merger & Acquisition of the Year. In September 2022, GIC completed the acquisition of a portfolio of hospitality assets, comprising 26 hotels, golf courses and ski resorts across Japan from Seibu Realty Solutions. The acquisition followed a competitive bidding process, aiming to identify a new owner for the properties on a manage-back to Seibu Prince Hotels Worldwide. The total acquisition price was JPY 123.7 billion ($870 million), representing the largest hotel portfolio transaction in Japan since 2007. Finalists in the category also included Daiwa Resort Portfolio in Japan and Spicers Retreats Portfolio in Australia.

Sustainability awards

The annual HICAP Sustainable Hotel Awards are designed to recognize hotels in the Asia Pacific region creating innovative new methods, strategies, and technologies to face today’s sustainable development challenge, while providing tangible examples of sustainable best practices that can be replicated and adapted across the region.

Sustainable Hotel Award - Building, Renovation, Preservation, Adaptive Reuse, Conversion (l. to r.): Judging panel member and presenter, Chiara Calufetti-Lim, WATG; accepting on behalf of The Tamara Kodai in India, Gnanesh Sajjan, Tamara Leisure Experiences; and Jonathon Zink, The BHN Group.

In the category of Building, Renovation, Preservation, Adaptive Reuse, Conversion, the winner is The Tamara Kodai in India. The Tamara Kodai is a 53-room resort located in Kodaikanal in the Nadu state in South-East India. A preservation which serves as example of a sustainable reuse which shows how to align luxury, modern hospitality trends and responsible tourism. The resort preservation transformed a heritage building complex built in 1840 into a luxury retreat. The renovation takes reference to the past, celebrating the original tribes living here and recognizing the more recent history of the place. The heritage building complex has been preserved with care, implementing the use of the original techniques and materials, new building extensions are built to follow the same. Many active sustainable strategies are in place to save energy and water. The resort is also committed to social sustainability supporting the local communities. About 40% of the products used in the resort are produced locally and 50% of their associates are from the local community.

In the category of Climate & Biodiversity Action the winner is Soneva Fushi in the Maldives. The Soneva Fushi 72-villa resort in Baa Atoll in the Maldives established carbon neutrality in 2012 to cover its full scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions – including guest flights. After first installing 2.5MWp of solar PV, Soneva is adding 1.9MWp of solar PV and 2.5MW capacity of battery storage, to cover 50% of its electricity. Using a guestroom environmental levy, Fushi offsets its carbon footprint via projects mitigating over 800,00 tons of CO2 and benefitting 350,000 people. These initiatives focus on biodiversity, providing cooking stoves to communities in Myanmar to reduce deforestation. Soneva Fushi embarked on a coral projection and restoration initiative, setting up a nursery of 50,000 fragments, establishing a biodiversity science centre designed to replicate the natural environment, rescuing over 29,000 coral colonies from dredging, and installing 28 micro-fragmenting tanks. This and many other initiatives are in place at Soneva Fushi via its Total Impact Assessment approach.

In the category of Positive Community Impact, the winner is Campedak Island in Indonesia. Located in the Riau Archipelago, the 20-villa Cempedak Island aims to have a positive impact for all stakeholders. Through the lack of waste management solutions, plastic pollution has historically been a threat to the community, endangering the local biodiversity that they rely on for livelihoods, nutrition and wellness. Cempedak has partnered with Seven Clean Seas to establish a non-profit to remove plastic waste, create waste management projects and provide fair formalized jobs for the local community. They have also established a materials recovery facility, which is researching how to reduce ocean plastic and return what is collected to the circular economy. The project employs 79 community members as part of their clean-up crews and has removed 780 tonnes of ocean plastic. It has extended to two other islands. Seven Clean Seas also help companies measure plastic use, conceptualize solutions and offset remaining plastic by investing in the collection and recycling of ocean plastics.

In the category of Sustainable Design, the winner is Six Senses Vana in India. The Six Senses Vana is in Dehradun, North India, and was certified LEED Platinum in 2015. Operation and architecture are designed to minimize their impact on the site. A clear design aesthetic includes sustainable materials and strategies, neutral palette, large openings to allow natural light in and to frame the views, evoking a sense of comfort and wellbeing. FSC Certified timber and low VOC paint have been specified throughout. The uniforms, bed and bath linens are made of organic Indian cotton. Many sustainability strategies are implemented: motion-detection systems, “inn Com Control”, BMS system, 100% LED lighting, solar panels, heat pumps and energy efficient equipment. Rainwater is collected for irrigation, gray water is recycled, low flow faucets reduce water consumption, and a bottling plant eliminates the use of plastic bottles.