Hotel advisory and asset management company, Tourism and Hospitality Services AustralAsia (THSA), has attracted two highly experienced industry professionals to expand the group’s advisory work in the Asia Pacific region.

THSA was founded in 2005 by Managing Director Rodger Powell, who has a lifetime of experience as an owner, operator and executive-level manager of a diverse range of hotels, hospitality and tourism businesses.

Joining Rodger as Partners are:

• Mina Li has over 15 years of experience and success as an expert advisor in development planning and feasibility, investment and asset management advisory for hotel and hospitality assets in Asia Pacific. Mina was the Director of Investments and Asset Management of Pro-Invest Group. She led the acquisition and due diligence process of the Group’s hotel transactions and set up the asset management arm of its operating hotel portfolio. Mina also has extensive experience working in Hong Kong for leading hospitality advisory firm Horwath HTL, where she undertook hundreds of hotel financial feasibilities in 24 countries across Asia Pacific and provided advisory on operating assets over AUD 2.3 billion.
• Ruwan Peiris brings a wealth of experience as a senior hotel executive with major multinational corporations such as Accor, Marriott, Nikko and IHG. Having worked across the Asia Pacific region and covering hospitality enterprises ranging from luxury to mid-scale hotels, convention centres to golf courses, and restaurants to spas, Ruwan has consistently been able to elevate revenue and deliver sustainable financial outcomes. He is renowned for his expertise in navigating intricate challenges to secure beneficial solutions for clients.

The two new Partners will bring the THSA team to eight professionals who collectively have completed over 800 assignments in six continents.

The expanded partnership comes as the Asia Pacific region enjoys its first full year of ‘normal’ trading since 2019, with travel largely unrestricted across the region, air capacity recovering to pre-Covid levels, inflation declining and stock markets around the world close to record levels.

Hospitality transactions are expected to reach the highest levels in over five years, as global groups look for opportunities to cement their market position.

“The opportunities in 2024 and beyond across the Asia Pacific region are extraordinary, but so are the challenges, and with Ruwan and Mina joining the THSA team, I believe we can help hotels and their owners enhance their reputation, potential and profit,” said Rodger Powell.

“There are interesting trends that require careful navigation. Global brands are expanding dramatically, but guest demands are for more individuality and localism. The industry has changed enough to enable both globalism and localism to work in the same package, as long as the hotel has the right advice and strategy.

“With the surge in new developments as well as transactions, hotels will increasingly struggle to stand out from the crowd and establish their own position. Mina, Ruwan and I have been tasked with such scenarios for decades, and each of us has a proven track record in delivering the results.

“That can be from providing investment strategy, development support, operational performance support to asset repositioning. We are totally independent and unaligned, so our advice is specifically relevant to the property, its owner and its market environment. Often one-off project advice becomes longer-term retained advisory support.

“What we do differently is to integrate consumer insights within investment, development and operational advice that continue to deliver above-market returns. The greatest value to our clients is our diverse experience as owners, operators and managers of hotels, restaurants and bars, attractions, and all levels of accommodation, coupled with insights gained from years of consulting worldwide. Collectively, these foundational pillars form the holistic approach that has become THSA’s hallmark. This is the THSA difference.”

Further information about Tourism and Hospitality Services AustralAsia (THSA):

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L to R: Ruwan Peiris,  Rodger Powell and Mina Li Tourism and Hospitality Services AustralAsia (THSA)