Russian arrivals are back to pre-crisis level while zero-baht tourism curbed Q4 growth rate, with total airport arrivals surpassing 7.5 million passengers, Phuket experienced a sharp year-on-year rise of 18% compared to 13% the previous year.

This is largely attributed to the resurgence of the Russian source market, which increased by 51% last year. The rebound was prompted by the strengthening of the ruble against the Thai baht and political volatility in the Middle East that shifted Russian tourists to the island during high season.

Another notable source market is Mainland China, whose arrivals were substantially affected after a national-wide government’s crackdown on zero-baht tourism in September of last year. The growth rate of Chinese visitors for FY2016 was down from 35% to 11%. However, the impact from the new enforcement is expected to soften in early 2017 with more Chinese travelers arriving during Chinese New Year.

Another key market issue is the influx of Airbnb and residential products now competing in the hotel space. There has been a significant change in the Department of Tourism and Sports’ revised hotel supply data to include both registered and unregistered tourist accommodations in late 2016, with Phuket now showing a total of 81,727 keys in 1,744 establishments.

This shift demonstrates the Thai government’s focus on addressing the widespread proliferation of unlicensed accommodation and the provincial administration has issued an ultimatum for illegal hotels to either register or face legal action.

The balance between two major source markets ended the year on a positive note as hotels’ RevPAR rose by 4%, which was propelled by a significant uplift in market-wide occupancy of 6.2% according to data from STR. Overall Phuket hotels achieved slightly more than 75% annualized occupancy for the year.

One key highlight of the C9 report is a 10-year perspective on growth in one of Asia’s leading report destinations. Over that period growth in airlift has been threefold, which is a key catalyst in demand generation. The island has has been successful in attracting new developments with more brand affiliated properties. Currently, the hotel pipeline has a total of 5,495 keys in 32 new hotels which are expected to come on stream by 2020.

To read and download the full report CLICK HERE.

Thailand’s two biggest resort markets Phuket and Pattaya will have daily direct flights starting on March 30th.

Thai AirAsia will serve the route between the island and Pattaya’s U-Tapao airport.

Currently travelers have to go on Bangkok Airways via Koh Samui to travel between the two locations.

With increased traffic at Suvarnbhumi and Don Mueang, U-Tapao is not only a gateway to the Eastern Seaboard but is becoming third gateway to Greater Bangkok.

Bill Barnett is the Founder and Managing Director of C9 Hotelworks, who are a leading consulting firm specializing in hotels, tourism and property development in Asia Pacific. C9 assists developers, private equity and financial institutions, and investors in providing market research, feasibility studies, hotel operator negotiations, asset management and transaction/due diligence support.

From their base of operations in Thailand the group is considered a leading regional player in market intelligence, and publish regular industry updates.

For more information contact www.c9hotelworks.com