C9 HOTELWORKS REPORT 28% First Half Surge – Phuket Arrivals

Phuket hotels are back on track from the low point of last year according to mid-year figures. Passenger traffic through Phuket International Airport in the first half this year surged 28% from a year earlier, and 13% from the latter half of 2009 signaling a solid return in its tourism industry.
A significant sign of recovery can be seen in the improvement of hotel wide performance. Hoteliers saw higher occupancies rise from 61% in H1 2009 to 70% in the same period this year. This did come at a cost resulting in a decrease in room rates by 9%. Industry metric RevPAR posted growth over the same period last year by 4%.
Market dynamics are evolving with a game changing shift in tourist profile from a historical 'Eurocentric' dependence on long haul European visitors to short haul Asian travelers. Driving this trend is a weakening of the euro and pound which have jolted traditional market sentiment and transformed travel patterns to the resort island destination.
There might be blood as the hotel pipeline still shows development resilience and investment confidence with an additional 4,538 rooms or an 11% spike over the next four years. A concern on oversupply could be cushioned by induced demand and larger trading volumes come into play in the long term prospects.
The key storyline of infrastructure enhancements aimed at supporting a mass tourism model continues to create controversy about the future of Phuket 2.0.
To view the C9 Hotelworks 'Phuket Hotel Market Report 2010 Mid-Year Edition' <link>http://www.c9hotelworks.com/downloads/phuket-hotel-update-august-2010.pdf*CLICK</link>