It was an evening of discovery as Minor Hotels welcomed about 50 of its top travel advisors for its annual gathering in Toronto, hosting them for a lavish dinner at The ONE Restaurant at the Hazelton Hotel in the city’s Yorkville district.
Lakshan Samarsinghe, Assistant Director of Sales – Luxury Leisure – Global Sales Force – North America – Minor Hotels — along with representatives from five of its hotels – in Vienna, Dublin, Marbella and two in Thailand — provided advisors with the latest news about the hospitality company’s 12 different brands.
In the past year, Minor Hotels has grown to more than 630 properties and added four new brands to its portfolio, which include:
- The Wolseley Hotels
- Minor Reserve Collection
- Colbert Collection
- Istay Hotel
During his presentation, Samarasinghe told advisors that: “The Wolseley hotels and Minor Reserve Collection will be under our Luxury portfolio and Wolseley will open its first hotel in New York next year.”
And he noted that: “The brand is inspired by the famous Wolseley café in London while Minor Reserve collection which has its own unique identity in the Market is now open its first hotel in Slovenia in Portoroz.”
Samarasinghe also told his audience that: “Colbert Collection which will be under our premium brand opened the first hotel in Florence in Porto Rossa and we have also announced our opening of the Colbert in London.”
And there is certainly some big news out of Miami, where Minor Hotels has announced that it will open the Anantara Miami by 2030 — bringing its Thai hospitality to the Americas.
It will also be opening the Anantara in Istanbul which will be the Anantara Retreat Koçataş Mansions Istanbul.
However, Samarshinghe saved the best for last, so to speak, which is the launch of Anantara Jets which is set to take off in 2027 and which he described as “a new hospitality‑led vision for private jet journeys.”
He explained that the company will have its own aircraft with a capacity of 50 passengers that will operate private journeys on an itinerary that begins in Rome and goes to Istanbul, Zambia, Oman, Maldives, Chiang Rai, Bangkok, returning to Rome.
All of this is good news, and even better news is that Samarasinghe told Travel Press Today that the Canadian market is turning in a strong performance for Minor Hotels. He said that business is up by 7% year on year with its properties in Europe in general seeing strong interest from the Canadian market, but there’s also interest in Maldives and Thailand.
And for Samarasinghe, the goal of the evening was pretty simple, telling the gathering that: “We want to make sure that everyone knows Minor Hotels and what its brands are all about.”
For more on Minor Hotels and its many brands, go to https://www.minorhotels.com/en
In The Photo
Travel advisors were welcomed at the May 5 event by, from l to r, Francisco Javier Valero, Sales Manager – Anantara Villa Padierna Palace Benahavís Marbella Resort; Radoslaw Piasecki, Director of Sales & Business Development – Anantara Bophut Koh Samui Resort/Avani Chaweng Samui Hotel & Beach Club; Kamutporn Chaiwong (Pui), Cluster Director of Sales & Marketing – Anantara Chiang Mai Resort & Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort; Hannah Selzer, Sales Manager, Anantara Palais Hansen Vienna Hotel; Jennifer Doyle, Assistant Director of Sales, Anantara The Marker Dublin Hotel; and Lakshan Samarasinghe, Assistant Director of Sales – Luxury Leisure – Global Sales Force – North America – Minor Hotels.
