Pattaya Tourism Gradually Tilts To Sustainable Growth Path On Back Of Rising Hotel Occupancy
Thailand’s tourism scene continues to impress and if the latest indicators in the exciting hotel sector are to go by, market growth and stability can be expected in the coming years. Over at Pattaya, the accommodation industry “is showing signs of increased stability and growth among key operating metrics.”
This according to the September 2018 Market Update issued by consultancy firm C9 Hotelworks, which dubbed Pattaya, a city located in the eastern section of the Gulf of Thailand and wildly popular for its beaches, as the second largest tourism destination in the country.
In terms of revenue per available room (RevPAR), Pattaya bested the more popular Thai resort island Phuket by registering nearly 9 percent of growth in the first six months of 2017. The uptick was mainly attributed to the incredible surge in domestic demand.
Per the same report and citing the data available as of June 2017, Thai tourists accounted for 38 percent of the total visitors that made their way to Pattaya, Chonburi Province during the stated period.
Likewise, foreign tourists greatly contributed to Pattaya’s increasing tourism performance with the Mainland Chinese leading the way. C9 said visitors from China constituted up to 15 percent of the total guests that the Thai city received last year. Notably, Russians and South Koreans have also made their mark, the report added.
Essentially, the market report in Pattaya showed the city has successfully transitioned from the volatile environment seen in 2014. The general Chonburi hotel market posted a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7 percent in the period that covered the years 2012 through the middle of 2017, the C9 report indicated. The province welcomed more than 16,000,000 hotel guests in last year alone.
Rosy Road Ahead
In large part, Greater Pattaya’s exploding tourism industry has been driven by the U-Tapao Rayong-Pattaya International Airport that saw a three-year CAGR hike of 79 percent. Additionally, the fresh international routes that were introduced during the cited period resulted to airlift arrivals of 59 percent, also in CAGR terms.
The Thai government is looking to further grow what Pattaya has already achieved by financing the ambitious high-speed rail project that will connect the U-Tapao Airport to similar facilities in Bangkok. When realised, the undertaking will serve as “a game changer for the Eastern Seaboard area,” the report said.
“Tourists and business travellers are expected to increase substantially upon the expansion of U-Tapao Airport’s runway and passenger terminal,” C9 added.
And not surprising at all, developers are racing to increase the accommodation capability of Greater Pattaya with plans to build up to 11 new hotels that will add over 2600 hotel rooms in the area over the next few years.
The hotel industry, specifically the luxury segment, is looking to roll out more improvements in line with the plan by the national government to open up a new revenue streams for Pattaya. Possibly soon, cruise ships will make port stops in the area that will bring on shore international visitors with money to spend.
