Mr Chanin Donavanik

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer

Born in Bangkok, Chanin Donavanik, completed his high school education in Essex, England and then proceeded to Boston University in the United States where he was honored with Masters Degrees in both the Arts and Business Administration.

Upon returning to Thailand in 1979, Chanin elected to pursue an academic career as a lecturer at Bangkok's prestigious Chulalongkorn University in the faculty of Commerce and Accounting. During this time he still devoted time to the family hotel business.

The global recession of the early 80's hit Thailand particularly badly and tourism and in particular the hotel sector were badly effected. To get through this crisis, the Dusit Thani PCL needed to turn to a new source of inspiration. Chanin was asked to take full control of the company. His first major decision was to reposition the group's flagship hotel, the Dusit Thani, to compete with the new International Hotels being built in Bangkok. Under Chanin's guidance, the hotel converted from its existing 700 rooms into 530 deluxe rooms and suites. In mid-2004, a new corporate room concept for discerning business and leisure travelers was conceived; wherein the deluxe rooms are redesigned as Dusit Club Rooms and Landmark Rooms have become Dusit Grand Rooms.

Following this successful beginning, Chanin began to explore expansion opportunities beyond Bangkok. In 1985 a hotel was opened in Chiangmai closely followed by the creation of spectacular beach resorts in Pattaya and Phuket. A second hotel was built in the North in Chiang Rai followed by the prestigious Dusit Resort & Polo Club in Cha-Am/Hua Hin (renamed Dusit Resort Hua Hin). In 1992 the company acquired its first overseas property - The Melrose in Dallas, Texas. Two more resorts were developed in Krabi and Jomtien and overseas expansion continued with further openings in Balikpapan and Jakarta, Indonesia and Manila in the Philippines.

The company had moved from being a small local hotel group to an international chain. However, Chanin knew that to be a truly global group the company needed to expand into Europe, and he masterminded the purchase of the prestigious Kempinski Hotels & Resorts group with its headquarters in Germany. The synergy of the 2 brands was potentially enormous and Chanin set about expanding the alliance with innovative marketing and distribution initiatives under one management structure. In the 3 years of the association Kempinski and Dusit proved to be innovative, profitable global players, as the many international awards and accolades received by both groups can attest.

In early of 1998, as a result of the economic crisis in Thailand, Chanin and his fellow board members reluctantly elected to sell the company's stake in Kempinski Hotels & Resorts to Siam Sindhorn Company Limited. Following the sale, Chanin intensified his involvement with Dusit Hotels & Resorts concentrating on improving its performance, and exploring other expansion opportunities.

In 2000, he was a prime mover in setting up the Asian Hotels Association (AHA), together with four other Founding (Taiwan), and Otani Hotels & Resorts (Japan).Currently, Chanin is Executive Director of The Dusit Group and its three brands - Dusit Hotels & Resorts, Royal Princess Hotels & Resorts, and the new D2 hotels + resorts. He also held the post of President of the Thai Hotels Association for two consecutive terms.