PHUKET, THAILAND — Outrigger Enterprises Group announced today that it has been selected to manage a new luxury collection of residences, villas, town homes and apartments being developed by Laguna Resorts & Hotels Public Company Limited in Laguna Phuket, located on Bang Tao Bay on the northwestern coast of Phuket, Thailand. The new collection will be named “Outrigger Laguna Phuket Resort and Villas”. When fully built out, it will consist of 309 two-, three- and four-bedroom units, many with their own private swimming pools. The first units will be ready for occupancy in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Laguna Phuket, widely recognized as Asia’s finest destination resort, is a 1,000 acre mixed-use tropical resort with five miles of pristine sandy beaches, six deluxe resort hotels (Banyan Tree Phuket, Sheraton Grande Laguna, Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket, Laguna Beach Resort, Allamanda Laguna Phuket, Laguna Holiday Club Resort), the Laguna Phuket Golf Club, spas, restaurants and bars as well as a retail shopping center. Laguna Resorts & Hotels Public Company Limited, a public company listed on the Thai stock exchange, developed the Laguna Phuket Resort starting in the mid 1980s from the remains of an abandoned tin mine once thought to be too polluted to develop. Laguna Phuket has since won numerous environmental awards as a result of that successful effort.
“We are excited to work with Laguna Resorts on this great new luxury product that they are building in the prestigious Laguna Phuket destination resort,” said David Carey, president and CEO of Outrigger Enterprises Group. “Laguna Phuket has such a well-deserved reputation as a quality resort and we are thrilled to be a part of it.”
“We welcome the Outrigger brand and their expertise in villa and condominium management,” said Michael Ayling, managing director of Laguna Resorts & Hotels Plc. “We’re delighted to announce the opening of Laguna Phuket’s seventh resort, Outrigger Laguna Phuket Resort and Villas. We’re positive that Laguna Phuket will greatly benefit from Outrigger’s quality management services of Laguna Village.”
Approximately one-half of the 309 units have been completed, with the remaining units scheduled for completion in 2011. Amenities at the Outrigger Laguna Phuket Resort and Villas will include a beach club, private clubhouse, fitness center, tennis courts, an Angsana spa, as well as retail shops and restaurants.
Phuket is one of Asia’s most popular beach destinations, offering an unbeatable combination of soft, white sand beaches and superb hospitality. It was named the number one luxury destination by the New York Times in January 2009 (http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/01/11/travel/11phuket.html) and is consistently voted among the world’s favorite island destinations in the prestigious Travel + Leisure magazine’s annual survey. Phuket is serviced by the Phuket International Airport, which is the second busiest passenger airport in Thailand, behind only Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport. Since the early 1980s, tourism has been Phuket’s main economic driver. Whether it is world class diving in the Andaman Sea, golf at world-standard championship courses or exciting eco-adventures in tropical forests, Phuket is a favorite visitor destination.
“Outrigger Laguna Phuket Resort and Villas will be our third property in Phuket, in addition to the Outrigger Serenity Terraces Resort in Chalong Bay along the quiet southeastern coast of Phuket and the Outrigger West Sands Resort on Mai Khao Beach in northwestern Phuket,” said Mr. Carey. “Phuket and Bali are the top leisure resort destinations in Asia and we now have five resorts open or under development in those two locations.”
In three short years, Outrigger has grown its presence in Southeast Asia to include the five resorts in Phuket and Bali, as well as properties in Hainan Island, China and Vietnam. “The Outrigger brand is synonymous with warm weather, beachfront, leisure resort destinations,” said Darren Edmonstone, senior vice president – Asia of Outrigger Enterprises Group. “We are searching out the best resort destinations in Southeast Asia for our brand.”