Bill Barnett

Managing Director

Bill Barnett is the Founder and Managing Director of C9 Hotelworks, a leading hospitality consulting firm specializing in the Asia Pacific region, based in Phuket, Thailand. With over 25 years of "on the ground" experience within key and developing markets, he has considerable experience and the relevant background to draw from.

Previously, as Deputy Managing Director of the publically listed leading Asian destination integrated resort development Laguna Phuket, he was instrumental in establishing a branded hotel managed residential property division into a prominent real estate operation. Prior to this he was Chief Operating Officer - Asia/Pacific for Millennium & Copthorne Hotels in Singapore, where his responsibility covered 43 operating and hotel assets. As an executive with Century International Hotels in Hong Kong, he played a key role in the expansion of the chain for 9 years with Vice President positions in operations, development and asset management.

With vast experience in asset management, he has acted in ownership representation on significant hotels such as the Four Seasons New York, Regent Beverly Wilshire, Ritz Carlton Hong Kong, Grand Hyatt Taipei, Hilton Seoul, Westin Philippine Plaza and Sofitel Silom Bangkok. In 1991 he was the first American hotel executive to manage a property in post war Vietnam. He attended executive education courses at Cornell University School of Hospitality Management and is currently a member of ISHC (International Society of Hospitality Consultants) and was awarded a prestigious PATA Gold Award in 2007.

He has his own popular property columns in a leading tourism and property based newspaper Phuket Gazette and The Nation which is Thailand's Biggest Business Daily. In addition he's made appearances on CNBC, BBC, CNN and in international news and financial publications. His popular blog, thephuketinsider.com, is the authoritative source of all Phuket hotel and real estate issues and trends.