BEHIND THE BANYAN

While searching for a new holiday home at the age of 32, Ho Kwon Ping chanced upon an unexpected find during his walk along a beach at Bang Tao Bay on the island of Phuket. He fortuitously stumbled on a piece of land that was pockmarked with craters, desecrated by decades of tin mining.

Unlike most who would only see despair, he saw business potential. And so began the remarkable story of the Banyan Tree Holdings, one of the most iconic hospitality groups in the world.

In Behind the Banyan, the company's founder and executive chairman peels back the layers of the company's successes and failures. Kwon Ping shares how he and his co-founders built a company from nearly nothing. From constructing a resort in the mountains of Lijiang in China to rebuilding his properties in Phuket after the 2004 tsunami, he opens on the highs and lows over the course of his extraordinary 30-year entrepreneurial journey.

In so doing, Kwon Ping delivers powerful insights in how to deal with technological disruptions, build a positive company culture, and handle succession in Asian family businesses.

A must-read for all aspiring entrepreneurs, business students, resort and spa lovers, Behind the Banyan teases and teaches important business lessons while delivering an emotional punch through masterful storytelling.

Contents:

• Foreword
• Introduction
• KP and His Ideals:
  • When Time Stood Still
  • Rise of a Student Protestor
  • The Hardest Decision
  • A New Start and an Epic Failure
  • A Moonshot
• KP and His Ideas:
  • How to Build a Brand
  • The Day My Mother Went Skinny-Dipping
  • Think Big
  • Riding the Chinese Elephant
  • Inside Out: Distilling Company Culture
  • The Courage of Mind
  • Disruption: Airbnb vs Hotels
  • Innovate or Die
  • Beyond Profit
  • Keeping It in the Family
  • Pandemic Pains
  • Somewhere Over the Rainbow
  • Excuse Me, Are You an Entrepreneur?
• Index

Readership: Aspiring entrepreneurs, business students, resort and spa lovers.

Key Features:

• Intimate insights from one of the most successful businessmen in Singapore: Ho Kwon Ping
• Clear and powerful storytelling
• Lessons on dealing with crises — especially coming from a hospitality business that survived COVID