Having spent 25 years with Marriott International, Kevin Beauvais understands the pressure of working in a big corporate environment. But now, operating his own boutique hotel management company, he is aiming to adopt a more personalised approach.
Beauvais founded Bangkok-based InVision Hospitality in 2007, but the last few years have been spent in a joint venture relationship. Having regained full control of his company last year, Beauvais told Travel Daily that he is determined to learn from his past experiences and make his business manageable, successful, and above all, enjoyable.
InVision Hospitality now has three hotel brands – GLOW (upper midscale), MAI HOUSE (upper upscale) and The Rice Miller (luxury); and according to Beauvais, this is how it will stay.
“This is our brand strategy; we have no desire to ever go beyond that. We don’t want 20 brands!” said the former Marriott executive.
Having been in Southeast Asia for more than a decade, Beauvais is targeting a strategic and considered expansion in the region, with a key focus on Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam.
“What I’ve learned is that you can’t go too far too fast. I tried that once and it did not go well. Today we’ve got signed deals in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, and more opportunities that we’re working on. But it really is Southeast Asia,” he told Travel Daily.
“We’re a smaller, more nimble management company; we’re not trying to be too large or confuse the issue. I like to say the goal is not to be big; the goal is to be good. If we add one or two hotels a year I’m pretty happy with that. As long as we’re growing the business and growing great relationships with customers, with owners and with employees, then that’s what life’s all about.”
But while Beauvais claims he doesn’t want to grow InVision’s portfolio too quickly, there are still plenty of new projects and opportunities in the pipeline.
He told Travel Daily that announcements about new properties in Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur will be made in the next 12 months. And he added that it will be easy to find more good opportunities in Vietnam, with key markets identified as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Danang, Hoi An and Nha Trang.
Beauvais also revealed that InVision Hospitality is working on viable GLOW opportunities in Thailand’s tertiary markets, such as Udon Thani and Ubon Ratchathani.
“Those are strong Thai markets. And when you look at the growing population in the Greater Mekong sub-region, all of that makes a ton of sense,” he said.
And Beauvais has an interesting metaphor for working with hotel owners that have multiple properties. He prefers to take a relationship slowly, at least in the early stages.
“I always say ‘let’s start with one date’ and if we decided that the date went well and we want to get married, let’s move on and have the kids. But let’s not rush things before we get decide if we are a good match. I try to keep it pretty simple – get one project off the ground first. And if it works, we can have as many as you like – two or 10!”
The key, Beauvais says, is to develop relationships that are “filled with dignity and respect”. Many newly-weds would be wise to take note.
This pragmatism doesn’t stop Beauvais being ambitious, however; when asked how big he expects GLOW to grow, Beauvais told Travel Daily that the brand’s horizons could extend further in future.
“We are certainly entertaining opportunities in Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia and the Philippines, if the opportunities are appropriate, we will act.” he revealed.
“If we could get GLOW to 20 hotels [in Southeast Asia], we could take the brand to India or China,” he asserted. “But let’s get it established, and then we can take it to a bigger environment. The bigger challenge is how we keep it simple, sustainable and successful.”
Given the right opportunities and the right owner relationships however, GLOW and InVision’s other brands could start shining across the region. The goal, as Beauvais says, is not to be big, but to be good. Perhaps without necessarily setting out to, InVision Hospitality could become both.
Comments are closed.