PATTAYA, 28 September 2018: Thailand’s second largest tourism market, Pattaya has pushed through the glass ceiling from the volatile hangover of the 2014 era, with its hotel sector now showing strong signs of rising stability.
According to the latest available data, strong demand from the Thai domestic sector accounted for 38% of hotel guests at accommodation establishments in Chonburi province.
Greater Pattaya’s expanding gateway aviation hub U-Tapao International Airport has been a critical stimulator of demand, where passenger arrivals over a three-year period rose at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 79% according to a new report from consulting group C9 Hotelworks.
One key infrastructure investments in the area has the Thai government finalising plans for high-speed rail links between U-Tapao and Bangkok’s two airports, Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang, which is undoubtedly a game changer for the Eastern Seaboard area.
New international airline routes to U-Tapao airport grew dramatically through the past three years as airlift arrivals increased significantly with a CAGR of 59%.
Translating airlift into hotel metrics, global data provider STR recorded an 8.7% year-on-year spike in key indicator RevPAR at the end of 2017. By mid-2018, market-wide occupancy hit 77.9%. While the current number of accommodation establishments in Chonburi province is 1,046 with 81,607 keys, most of the growth is focused on Greater Pattaya.
C9 Hotelworks report shows 11 new hotels in the development pipeline, which accounts for 2,645 additional rooms.
Speaking about the incoming supply, C9’s Managing Director Bill Barnett said: “There is a substantial influx of branded select service and economy hotels including Holiday Inn Express, OZO, COSI and Citadines, which are targeted at not only mainland China and India but also regional Southeast Asian markets.
“The impact of this new supply in the short to medium period will take time to absorb and likely create rate issues in the economy and midscale tiers, until such time as the EEC (Eastern Economic Corridor) development becomes more pronounced,” Barnett noted.
“At the same time, Chonburi province, last year, racked up more than 16 million hotel guest nights at accommodation establishments and there is little doubt that Greater Pattaya is moving into a broader tourism platform.”
The government announced a massive investment to upgrade U-Tapao airport located 36 km south of Pattaya town. Already identified as an international gateway served by flights from China, the upgrade will turn it into the third largest airport after Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang Airport. The three airports will be linked by a high-speed rail service making it possible to ease airline traffic congestion at the Bangkok airports by shifting flights to U-Tapao.
Earlier this year Thailand’s annual trade show TTM Plus was hosted in Pattaya at the resort’s Ocean Marina.
Positive response from tour operators attending the show convinced the Tourist Authority of Thailand to confirm the show would return to the eastern seaboard tourist town in 2019.
To download and read the full C9 Hotelwork’s Pattaya Hotel Market Update 2018
https://www.c9hotelworks.com/downloads/pattaya-hotel-market-update-2018-09.pdf
