Capstone Company: Dusit International
Team Members: Magali Castells Viñals, Filip Schmidt
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
“Dusit International is a well-respected Thai hotel group that is renowned for its rich history, outstanding Thai hospitality, and gracious services. The group is currently operating 27 properties in 9 countries around the world and has officially announced the opening of 50 new properties in the coming years.
As Buddhism plays a central role in the culture of Dusit International, the company places a strong emphasis on the field of education to support the local community. As expressed by the company founder Thanpuying Chanut Piyaoui, “If Thailand is to be among the world’s leaders in the hospitality industry, the education and training of staff would be of the most importance.”
Dusit International has an Education division that runs two reputable colleges, three culinary schools, and one vocational school. Dusit Education plans to expand into different markets to answer the demand of the industry and sustain the future growth of the hotel group.
During our capstone in-residence period we worked close together with the Education division of Dusit International. Having a capstone partner that is directly related to the Dusit family enabled us to access internal information and develop connections with the different departments. Thanks to conversations with members of the executive team, we were able to fully understand the vision of the company and see the potential of Dusit Education to sustain the future growth of the Dusit International. Our project is divided in the following two objectives:
- Integrate the educational division as a main driver of Dusit International’s future growth strategy
- The conceptualization and operational development of an integrated hotelschool in Manila, Philippines.
Additionally, we had the chance to attend several hotel investment and hospitality education conferences such as APacCHRIE and APHIC, to learn more about the current trends in the ASEAN region. We also used this opportunity to meet industry participants and learn from their passions and working experiences in Asia.
Besides spending time at the office, our capstone partner really encouraged us to travel and discover Thailand. Although Bangkok is amazing, we followed his advice and spent most of our weekends outside of the city in places, including Amphawa, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Koh Tao, Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, and Koh Lipe
Due to the diversity of backgrounds within our capstone team, we have been able to see the project from various perspectives. By combining our knowledge and experiences, we were able to fully integrate with the company and understand the hospitality educational industry that we were not previously familiar with. At first, the project took each of us out of our comfort zones, but ultimately enabled us to grow personally and professionally.
We are very much looking forward to finalizing our project and delivering qualitative recommendations that can directly be implemented to support the sustainable growth of Dusit International.”
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