Centara Hotels & Resorts has signed a hotel management agreement with Chuan Development Hotel Company to develop its third Cosi property in the south of Thailand, Cosi Krabi Ao Nang Beach.

As Centara Hotels & Resorts unveils an ambitious expansion plan, Markland Blaiklock, deputy chief executive with the Thai-based hospitality company, here tells Breaking Travel News what it entails. Also on the agenda are buoyancy of the Asian hospitality market, the importance of Germany as a source market, and his personal ambitions for the role.

Centara Hotels & Resorts has signed a long-term lease agreement for the Centra by Centara Government Complex Hotel & Convention Centre, Chaeng Watthana. Centara chairman Suthikiati Chirativat signed the agreement for the 204-room hotel and conference property in the Thai government community ten minutes from Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport.

Following Centara’s recent announcement that it had strengthened its management team by welcoming back seasoned industry professional Markland Blaiklock in a newly formed role of deputy chief executive, the group has now released its significant expansion plans for the next five years.

Centara Hotels & Resorts has announced the appointment of Thatthep Thamrongwarasart to manage the beach resort in Trat, on the east side of the Gulf of Thailand. Thatthep graduated with a bachelor’s degree in general management from Bangkok University and has a diploma in travel and tourism from Cavendish College London.

Centara Hotels & Resorts continues to expand internationally with the opening of a four-star, 152-room hotel in Muscat. The property becomes its fifth hotel outside Thailand and first of three planned for the Middle East.