Laguna Phuket celebrates 25 years

Launched in 1987 when its first hotel opened for business, Laguna Phuket this year celebrates a quarter century of achievement that has seen it evolve into one of Asia’s most popular destination resorts. During the past 25 years, this 1,000 acre site on Phuket’s northwest coast, originally a desolate wasteland scarred by tin mining, has been transformed into a lush tropical lagoon-filled integrated complex of luxury hotels and residential villa properties, complete with restaurants, spas and a golf course. In addition to attracting millions of guests from around the world to help put Phuket on the international tourism map, Laguna has also created thousands of local jobs to become one of the island’s leading employers. It is a prominent contributor to local communities and charities through an array of Corporate Social Responsibility programmes and has become the regional venue of choice for high-profile international sports events. Future Plans Now Laguna Phuket has unveiled plans for future development featuring a new hotel, condominium, commercial and leisure complex at the heart of the resort. “We are proud to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Asia’s first integrated resort, Laguna Phuket, and look forward to an exciting future as we map out a new role for the community to support evolving tourism needs,” said Mr. Ho KwonPing, Chief Executive Officer of Laguna Resorts & Hotels. “I want to pay particular tribute to our many long-serving local staff who have devoted years of dedicated service to help Laguna Phuket achieve its international stature as a premier holiday destination.” The new design concept is for an integrated development on a parcel of land overlooking one of Laguna Phuket’s west-facing beachfront lagoons, between the Laguna Beach Resort and Dusit Thani Laguna Phuket. The concept is for an integrated complex of buildings among a series of waterways with a hotel, luxury condominiums, water park, and space for up to 1,000 shops and restaurants. Laguna Phuket’s success is also being exported internationally with the launch of Laguna Lang Co, currently under construction in central Vietnam. This new seafront development, scheduled to open in November 2012, is based on the Laguna Phuket concept with Banyan Tree and Angsana properties, as well as spas and an international standard golf course. From asiatraveltips