Koh Samui En Route To Sustained Growth On Back Of Exploding Tourism, Hotel Sectors – Report

Koh Samui is evidently profiting from the massive tourist inflows seen happening in Thailand over the past six years, the incredible growth largely credited to the island resort’s accessibility and premium accommodation offerings. The upward trend is unlikely to see significant disruption in the foreseeable future, a new report said.

Koh Samui in Thailand is a picture of “calm in the middle of a gathering storm,” according to the latest Samui Hotel Market Update issued by C9 Hotelworks. Likewise, the report from the consultancy firm highlighted the fact that the first-rate holiday island destination managed to capitalise on the “onslaught of mass tourism” while similar industries around the country grappled with the situation.

In large part, Koh Samui displayed poised and sustained development in recent years, the industry report indicated.

Dizzying Growth Numbers

The numbers speak volume as they showed passenger arrivals surged from the last five years heading to 2016. C9 said visitors that passed through the Koh Samui airport jumped by twice as much by the end of 2016. In the following year, the growth was recorded at 15 percent and it continued on this 2018.

As of May this year, nearly 600,000 tourists made their way to the island resort, basing the combined arrivals data furnished by officials of Samui International and Surat Thani airports, C9 said on its report.

The figures, no doubt, pointed to high demand indicators that C9 said were prompted by the increase in code-sharing agreements forged by Bangkok Airways. For instance, the Thai carrier has commenced on its codeshare service with El Al Israel Airlines this year.

In addition, Koh Samui benefitted from the “multiplication of more regional direct routes.”

Why They Keep Coming

It appeared too that the heavy influx of tourist in Koh Samui was due to its “barefoot luxury makings,” and it helped that prominent hotel brands can found in the island. To date, Four Seasons, W, Conrad, InterContinental and Ritz-Carlton are some of the big names operating in the vacation destination.

Of note as well is the presence of wellness properties. The likes of Kamalaya, Samahita and Vikasa, according to C9, serve as a big draw to visitors and a big number of them coming from abroad. It was observed that in the same segment, travellers come and stay relatively longer.

“Not only is occupancy a strong point but a longer average length of stay, loyalty in terms of returning guests and direct booking are key attributes,” C9 noted on its report.

Biggest Spenders

Per the Thai government, Koh Samui is frequented by tourists coming in from the UK, Australia and France but the Germans and the Chinese (from mainland China) headed the pack. The latter two registered growth arrivals of 58 percent and 35 percent, respectively, in the last 12 months ending in June 2017.

The aggregated arrivals resulted to tourism revenue of THB31 billion (roughly $944 million), and over 90 percent of which have been realised thanks to the overseas tourist arrivals in Koh Samui.