CENTEL Targets 5% RevPAR Growth in 2025 by Focusing on High-Potential Tourism
The share price of Central Plaza Hotel Public Company Limited (SET: CENTEL) saw a modest increase on Thursday at 11:30 AM (Bangkok time), rising by 0.81% or THB 0.25 to close at THB 31.00, reflecting steady market sentiment and a trading value of THB 29.68 million. Mr. Thirayuth Chirathivat, Chief Executive Officer of CENTEL, delivered an optimistic outlook, projecting that the company’s revenue per available room (RevPAR) is expected to increase by approximately 5% year-on-year throughout 2025.
This anticipated growth is strategically underpinned by CENTEL’s focused approach toward high-potential tourist segments, aiming to capture higher-spending markets, coupled with an aggressive strategy to further expand into key new international markets. This expansion effort includes launching managed properties in rapidly growing tourism destinations, diversifying its geographical revenue streams beyond Thailand.
For the first nine months of 2025, the company reported a solid RevPAR figure of 4,106 baht per room per night, demonstrating a strong foundation for the projected annual growth target. Looking further ahead into 2026, the company maintains a highly optimistic perspective on its operational performance, with revenue strategically targeted to grow by an even more ambitious 10-15% compared to the 2025 figures.
This aggressive forward-looking target will be pursued through the continuation and scaling up of its market expansion initiatives, ensuring sustained double-digit revenue growth. Mr. Thirayuth also highlighted that the global trend of sustainable tourism continues to be a powerful, prevailing force supporting long-term sector growth, a trend that CENTEL is actively embracing as a core component of its Business model.
CENTEL Commits to Global Sustainability Leadership with GSTC Certification
In direct alignment with the powerful trend of sustainable tourism, CENTEL has proactively introduced the “C-E-N-T-A-R-A Sustainability Blueprint”, which stands as the company’s definitive long-term strategic framework. This comprehensive plan is designed to rigorously guide all environmental practices across the organization and powerfully reinforce the company’s deep commitment to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles, establishing CENTEL as a leader in responsible hospitality.
A major achievement in 2025 saw all 42 of CENTEL’s hotels and resorts, encompassing both its domestic properties in Thailand and its growing international portfolio, successfully achieve full certification by the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC). This widespread achievement is a direct and measurable result of the company’s stated sustainability objectives, moving beyond simple pledges to concrete, independently verified performance.
Attaining the prestigious GSTC certification across all properties, along with the company’s ongoing efforts to achieve substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, powerfully underscores CENTEL’s unwavering commitment to environmental stewardship and its dedication to minimizing its operational footprint. The company intends to maintain its momentum by continuing to innovate and actively develop sophisticated environmental programs necessary to meet its ambitious ESG targets.
Crucially, these efforts are aimed at ensuring valuable and demonstrably sustainable travel experiences for its guests, without compromising the enjoyment of future generations. CENTEL firmly believes that all Business growth must be seamlessly aligned with a deep sense of responsibility towards society, the environment, and the local communities it serves, ultimately committing the organization to elevating industry standards and ensuring a balanced, sustainable development trajectory for the entire Thai tourism sector.
The C-E-N-T-A-R-A Sustainability Blueprint is structured around seven distinct pillars: environment, greenhouse gas reduction, renewable energy and efficiency, effective water management, systematic waste management, social and community engagement, and governance, providing a holistic and actionable roadmap.
Aggressive International Expansion and Property Renovation Fuels 2026 Outlook
Looking forward, Mr. Thirayuth highlighted an aggressive pipeline of new Investment and openings that are poised to significantly contribute to CENTEL’s targeted 10-15% revenue growth in 2026. The company is scheduled to launch six additional managed hotels throughout 2026, strategically expanding its global footprint across key emerging tourism markets, including Qatar, Vietnam, Nepal, and Saudi Arabia.
This concentrated expansion into the Middle East and South Asia is a calculated move to diversify revenue streams away from traditional Economy dependencies and capitalize on regions experiencing rapid tourism infrastructure development. Furthermore, a highly anticipated development is the opening of Centara Life Osaka—a wholly owned property—which is expected to begin operations in late April or early May 2026.
This property, located in a major Japanese city, represents a high-value entry into a mature and lucrative East Asian tourism market, significantly boosting its brand exposure in a key feeder market. In addition to these new ventures, the company also expects a fully renovated hotel in Krabi, Thailand, a vital domestic market, to officially reopen within the same period.
The combination of new managed properties in high-growth international areas and the reopening of key renovated assets domestically demonstrates a balanced, two-pronged approach to maximizing operational performance and asset utilization. This proactive Business expansion, coupled with the fundamental strength of its fully GSTC-certified portfolio, positions CENTEL exceptionally well to achieve its ambitious growth targets and solidify its standing as a regional leader in both hospitality excellence and sustainable Investment.
Financial Analyst Commentary: The ESG-Driven Competitive Edge in a Challenged Market
CENTEL’s strategic focus represents a sophisticated approach to Investment and Business in the post-pandemic Thai and regional hospitality Economy, which is currently characterized by decelerating growth in overall tourist arrivals and intense competition. While government forecasts anticipate a moderate rebound to around 34 million foreign arrivals by 2026, the key challenge for the Thai market is a persistent lag in per-trip spending and a shift in tourist demographics away from high-yield segments, which the company is directly addressing.
The achievement of comprehensive GSTC certification across all 42 properties is a non-trivial competitive differentiator that moves CENTEL beyond mere compliance, positioning it to capture the premium segment of “green travelers” who, globally, demonstrate a proven willingness to pay a premium (often 3%–9%) for verified sustainable accommodation. This acts as a significant RevPAR multiplier that is largely independent of broad market volume fluctuations, bolstering the credibility needed to sustain the ambitious 5% RevPAR growth target for 2025, especially considering recent tourism growth slowdowns in Thailand.
Furthermore, the expansion into markets like Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam is a calculated Finance move to de-risk the portfolio by tapping into the high-growth Investment cycles in the Middle East and the rapidly developing domestic tourism Economy of Vietnam. By prioritizing ESG and external validation, CENTEL enhances its corporate financial resilience and improves access to green Finance sources, ensuring lower long-term capital costs and higher asset valuations for a portfolio that is increasingly aligned with global institutional investor mandates.
