Platinum Group sees gold in Chinese tourism

Mall company The Platinum Group is banking on Chinese tourism to support a retail shopping centre it plans to open next year.

With a wholesale fashion mall in Bangkok that attracts about 15 million people annually, the group is investing about THB6 billion (US$180 million) in the project, says president Chanchai Phansopha.

“We want to transform the company from an operator of a wholesale fashion mall into a commercial property developer,” he says. The Bangkok project is part of a wider, THB11-billion investment plan that will also add hotel and office space over five years.

Thailand last year had nearly 9 million Chinese visitors who spent an above-average $176 a head daily.

Chanchai says he foresees double-digit growth in sales and profit, with the new mall, The Market, expected to boost revenue at least 30 per cent in 2019.