Minor Hotels Sold $23M Villas Before Completion | Branded Residences | IHIF Asia 2026 | Omar Romero

In this interview with Travel And Tour World at IHIF Asia 2026, Omar Romero, Chief Development and Luxury Officer at Minor Hotels, discusses the group's asset-right growth strategy, its fast-scaling luxury and upscale sub-brands, and how wellness and branded residences are shaping its next phase of expansion. Key highlights: 1. Minor Hotels operates close to 600 hotels across 62 countries under 12 brands spanning luxury to select service. 2. The company follows an asset-right strategy rather than asset-light, owning roughly a third of its portfolio, leasing another third, and managing the remainder for third parties. 3. Minor is currently 70% asset heavy and 30% asset light, with a goal to rebalance toward a 50/50 split. 4. To accelerate asset-light growth, Minor launched two new sub-brands in January: Minor Reserve Collection in the luxury tier and Colbert Collection in the upscale tier. 5. Colbert Collection already has 17 confirmed projects, with 90% coming from conversions of existing properties. 6. Branded residences remain a key growth driver, led by Anantara, with Anantara Layan in Phuket now in its third phase after phases one and two sold out, some units reselling at a significant premium. 7. Minor is expanding wellness-led concepts, including a new wellness residence component at Anantara Miami featuring circadian lighting, red-light therapy showers, magnesium water filtration, and air-purifying systems. 8. The group is also growing its dedicated Life wellness centers covering longevity, nutrition, fitness, anti-aging, and pain management, with locations in Phuket and Bangkok and a new one opening in New York this year. About Travel And Tour World: Travel And Tour World is a global travel media platform covering travel, tourism, hospitality, aviation, MICE, cruise, and luxury travel, with readership across 195 countries. [Minor Hotels, Omar Romero interview, Anantara, Colbert Collection, Minor Reserve Collection, branded residences, hotel wellness concepts, asset right hotel strategy, hotel development Asia 2026, Anantara Layan Phuket residences, Minor Hotels asset light growth, hotel conversion brands 2026, wellness residences hospitality trend, IHIF Asia 2026 interview, luxury hotel development Asia, hotel branded residences investment] #MinorHotels #Anantara #ColbertCollection #IHIFAsia2026 #HotelDevelopment #WellnessTravel #BrandedResidences #LuxuryHospitality #APAC #TravelAndTourWorld #HotelInvestment #HospitalityInnovation