AHS to assist Vienna House in new Asian and European hotel expansion plans

Austrian hotel group Vienna House and Thai hotel management company Absolute Hotel Services Group have established a joint venture to open new hotels of their respective brands in the European and Asian markets.

Both groups have similarly positioned hotels. Currently, AHS manages 22 hotels in Asia—12 of which operate under the U Hotels & Resorts brand. A further 13 U Hotels & Resorts are set to open soon. Vienna House's Asian office in Bangkok, with the full support of AHS, will oversee the growth of the Vienna House brand in Asia. The partners announced planned to complete two to three projects a year with a focus on city and resort hotels. The European office in Vienna will oversee the expansion of U Hotels & Resorts in Central Europe, with a focus on opening additional urban resort hotels.

The joint venture between AHS and Vienna House was made possible by the recently announced shareholder change at Vienna House. The parent company of both hotel companies is Thailand's BTS Group. AHS and Vienna House are already discussing projects in Bangkok and in Vietnam. The first transaction is expected to conclude this year.