The Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT) has announced the air transport statistics for June 2010.

Total international passenger disembarkations at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport were 1,013,782 in June 2010 compared to 994,205 in June 2009, an increase of 2% but this represents a 19% decline on June 2008 disembarkations. Domestic passenger disembarkations at Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports were 394,278 in June 2010 compared to 431,514 in June 2009, a 9% decline on both June 2009 and 2008 disembarkations.

International disembarkations at Phuket’s airport were 94,681 in June 2010 compared to 64,451 in June 2009, a 47% increase. This represents a 23% increase on June 2008 figures. Domestic passenger disembarkations were 102,505 compared to 108,270 in June 2009, a decline of 5% on June 2009 and a 9% decline on June 2008 figures.

1. The whole of Thailand (All airports managed by AOT)
2. Bangkok international airports Suvarnabhumi and Dong Muang
3. Phuket International airport

We have analysed the impact of

1. The December 2004 Tsunami
2. The 2008 Lehman Bankruptcy
3. The November 2008 Bangkok airports closures
4. The 2009 Bangkok April Riots
5. The 2010 Bangkok Turmoil

Some of these events were spread close together and others more spread out.

All events apart from the Lehman bankruptcy were local.

International arrivals in Bangkok appeared to take only 6 months to recover from the multiple events of the global financial crisis, the Bangkok airport closures and April 2009 Bangkok riots.

The impact of the 2004 Tsunami was far more severe partly because of the physical caused to many hotel properties and the overall death toll of tourists. Even so the recovery took only 14 months.

The graphs below show the impact of these events on overall numbers and Phuket.

The Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited has announced the air transport statistics for May 2010.

“The results are not as bad as many expected with Bangkok’s international disembarkations only down 8% on May 2009 while Phuket’s international disembarkations increased by 62% on May 2009”, according to James Pitchon, executive director of CB Richard Ellis.

Although the year-on-year comparison looks impressive, it must be remembered that May 2009 was weak because of the April 2009 riots in Bangkok. May 2010 is still impressive given the circumstances with many governments warning against coming to Thailand except for essential reasons.

Total international passenger disembarkations at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport were 906,366 in May 2010 compared to 986,120 in May 2009, a 8% decline. This represents a 29% decline on May 2008 disembarkations. Domestic passenger disembarkations at Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports were 435,227 in May 2010 compared to 480,909 in May 2009, a 10% decline. This represents a 16% decline on May 2008 disembarkations.

International disembarkations at Phuket’s airport were 95,633 in May 2010 compared to 59,051 in May 2009, a 62% increase. This represents a 25% increase on May 2008 figures. Domestic passenger disembarkations were 107,661 compared to 113,723 in May 2009, a decline of 6% on May 2009 and a 15% decline on May 2008 figures.

The numbers show the resilience of the Thai tourism industry but aside from fears about political stability there are still many challenges including the weak Euro which makes Thailand a more expensive destination for many of Thailand’s key feeder markets. Bangkok and to a lesser extent many of the resort markets face a significant increase in hotel room inventory so even if tourist arrivals recover, hotel owners will face downward pressure on rates because of newer competition. The real test of what the effect of the unrest will take place in the peak season at the end of this year.

Visit us to find a condo or villa in Phuket to stay for your holidays.

According to statistics collected by CB Richard Ellis from Airports of Thailand Public Company Limited (AOT), the total number of disembarking international passengers at all AOT managed airports in April 2010 was 1,318,606 compared to 1,286,119 in April 2009 a 2.5% increase.

International arrivals to Suvarnabhumi Airport decreased by 0.6% to 1,184,241 from 1,190,820 in April 2009 and represented a 14.9% decrease from April 2008 figures.

However, international arrivals to Phuket Airport continued to improve despite increasing political tensions in Bangkok. The total number of international passenger arrivals at Phuket Airport was 120,015 compared to 84,871 in April 2009 a 41.1% increase. When compared to 2008 figures, Phuket international passenger arrivals increased by 40.0%. The total number of domestic passenger arrivals at Phuket Airport in April 2010 was 146,088 compared to 145,209 in April 2009 a 0.6% increase.

According to James Pitchon, executive director at CB Richard Ellis, “the April figures were very encouraging taking into account Bangkok’s escalating political protests and the closure of many European airports due to volcanic ash. Obviously, May figures are likely to be poor. The question is will they recover and how long will it take.”

There are multiple challenges not just the damage to Thailand’s image due to the civil unrest in Bangkok. The economic weakness in Europe and the depreciation of the Euro against the Thai baht will have some effect on many of Thailand’s main feeder markets.

“Having spent most of April in Europe, my length of stay caused by airport closures, I am still convinced about the strength of Thailand’s brand as a holiday destination. Many people I met had visited Thailand and wanted to come again or were repeat visitors to Thailand. I believe that the European markets may hold up better than the many of Thailand’s Asian feeder markets. The Thai brand had suffered from multiple setbacks from the 2006 coup to the tragic events in May this year. I think the brand is battered and bruised, it is down but not out.”

The total number of disembarking international passengers at Suvarnabhumi Airport in March 2010 was 1,414,916 compared to 1,254,193 in March 2009 a 13% increase. 

The number of total number of disembarking domestic passengers at Suvarnabhumi Airport was 495,867 compared to 382,741 in March 2009 a 30% increase. This reflects the relocation of domestic flight operations from Don Muang where there were 128,512 disembarking domestic passengers in March 2010 compared to 179,502 in March 2009 but the total number of disembarking domestic passengers at both Bangkok’s airports increased by 11% year on year.

The total number of disembarking international passengers at Phuket Airport in March 2010 was 157,528 compared to 113,297 in March 2009 a 39% increase. 

The total number of disembarking domestic passengers at Phuket Airport was 179,352 in March 2010 compared to 150,394 in March 2009 a 19% increase year on year. This bodes well for the Phuket Villa Rental market.

The hotel sector in Bangkok still faced reduced levels of tourism, down 3.8% Y-o-Y, in 2009. This figure is a marked improvement from the first half of the year with Q1 showing Y-o-Y decline of 13.4% and Q2 down 14.4%. The second half of the year showed a Y-o-Y improvement of 5.3% in Q3 and 18.4% in Q4. Easing political tensions and a slowly improving global economic situation are factors in the improvement. The number of tourists arriving in Thailand from East Asian countries, Thailand’s biggest tourist market, increased 20% Y-o-Y and 11% Q-o-Q. There was further positive news from European tourist arrivals, increasing 17% Y-o-Y and 28%
Q-o-Q.

As a result of improving market conditions, occupancy levels for luxury and first class hotels in Bangkok saw an improvement to 57% in quarter 4, up from 55% the same period last year and 45% in Q3 2009. However, the Average Daily Rate (ADR) showed a slight decrease, down 12.5% from THB 5,322 in Q3 2009 to THB 4,658 in Q4. Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR) was at a rate of THB 2,677 in Q4, up 13.2% from THB 2,365 in the previous quarter. This was an Y-o-Y decline of 13.8% from THB 3,107 in Q4 2008.

The luxury hotel market improved slightly in Q4 2009. However, the supply of hotels continues to rise. Significant additions to the current hotel stock of 26,775 keys are expected over the next 4 years. There are approximately 581 new keys scheduled to be added to the hotel stock in Q1 2010, with an additional 3,069 keys by the end of 2010. There will be an estimated 9,452 additional keys by the end of 2013, bringing the total to 36,227. This represents a 35% increase on current figures. In addition to increased hotel supply, this sector faces strong competition from service apartments which are often chosen over 5 star hotels as guests can generally get more space at a cheaper price. The supply of serviced apartments is expected to increase by 25% by 2013.

Although occupancy levels and RevPAR have improved in this quarter, the increase in the number of hotel rooms and serviced apartments available in the future will add further strain to Bangkok’s hotel industry.

This is an extract from Bangkok Luxury Hotel MarketView Q4 2009, Visit CBRE Research to download full report.

The total number of disembarking international passengers at Suvarnabhumi Airport in February 2010 was 1,397,638 compared to 1,120,310 in February 2009 a 25% increase.

The number of total number of disembarking domestic passengers at Suvarnabhumi Airport was 491,437 compared to 337,661 in February 2009 a 46% increase.  This is partly explained by the relocation of flights from Don Muang where there were 107,310 disembarking domestic passengers in February 2010 compared to 163,657 in February 2009 but the total number of disembarking domestic passengers at both Bangkok’s airports increased by 19% year on year.

The total number of disembarking international passengers at Phuket Airport in February 2010 was 184,996 compared to 108,132 in February 2009 a 71% increase.

The total number of disembarking domestic passengers at Phuket Airport was 183,916 in February 2010 compared to 137,279 in February 2009 a 33% increase year on year.

Domestic passenger disembarkations at Suvarnabhumi Airport were 551,954 compared to 386,637 in January 2009.

Bangkok’ Don Muang airport has minimal international passengers. Domestic disembarkations were 119,484 in January 2010 compared to 194,089 in January 2009 and reflect the move of many domestic flight operations back to Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Phuket international disembarkations were 172,952 in January 2010 compared to 122,776 in January 2009 a 41 % increase year on year.

Domestic disembarkations at Phuket airport were 191,216 in January 2010 compared to 147,947 in January 2009.

All this is good news for the Thai tourism, hotel and Phuket Villa Rental sector.  It must however be remembered that the January 2009 numbers were low due to the airport closure in the previous month.

A quick check on Booking.com seems to confirm the story with many hotels saying they have few available rooms for the February 13-14th weekend.

The Hilton Arcadia and Millennium Patong had five rooms left and the Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort had no rooms left.

This is obviously good news for the Phuket hotel market.

By James Pitchon, Executive Director

In the first 11 months of 2009 total Chinese visitors to Thailand were only 683,781 and 778,337 for the whole of 2008.

The China Tourism Academy (CTA) forecasts that there will be 54 million outbound Chinese tourists in 2010.

Thailand ranks 7th in terms of destinations and is beaten by three countries Japan, South Korea and Singapore who do not have land borders with Thailand.

Taking into account the poor outlook for European feeder markets Thailand needs to do better in attracting Chinese tourists. Bangkok is facing a 30% increase in hotel rooms over the next three years and needs to develop new growing feeder markets.

By: James Pitchon, Executive Director

The property, located on Ploenchit Road next to the Maneeya Centre office building, has 275 Rooms, 58 suites and 19,999 square metres of meeting space.

A quick check on their reservation website showed a room rate of 5,999 baht for one night on February 3^rd for a deluxe 37 square metre room.

By comparison the following rates were being offered by competing properties nearby.

In the same area the following serviced apartments were offering these daily rates.

There are numerous other hotels under construction within one kilometer of the Renaissance including the Kempiniski at Siam Paragon, St. Regis on Rajdamri, M Gallery Langusan, the Okura at Park Ventures and Novotel on the corner of Ploenchit and Soi Ruam Rudee.

We expect that there will be a 30% increase in Bangkok hotel rooms over the next three years.

We will need to see a similar increase in business and leisure travel in order for hotels to be able to increase room rates.

Taking into account economic conditions in the long haul feeder markets in Europe and the US, we cannot see a big upswing in visitors from these destinations.

Maybe the surprise card will be visitors from India and China but to date Thailand has not performed well in attracting Chinese tourists.

In the absence of a significant increase in arrivals the outlook for the Bangkok hotel industry is going to be increased competition with reduced rates and occupancy.  Surprisingly there are still plans to develop even more hotels than those already under construction.