c9hotelworks
- Phuket Travel
Phuket transforms into a global luxury hub for the elite
Phuket has changed dramatically in recent years. Fringed by the Andaman Sea, the tropical oasis has evolved from a popular beach resort destination into one of the world’s most attractive luxury residential markets, with elite luxury consumer brands, Michelin dining and international quality education and medical care fuelling the interest. The Phuket Luxury Report, unveiled at a recent event and…
- Property
Driving sales: Thai real estate shifts gears with fashion and wellness brands
Thailand’s real estate developers are expanding beyond familiar hotel brands into the realms of iconic automotive, fashion, and wellness labels, as they seek identities that resonate with luxury property buyers. Listed property group Ananda made global headlines with their ultra-luxury offering, Porsche Design Tower Bangkok, with eye-catching prices reaching 1 million Thai baht per square metre (approximately US$33,000 per square…
- Events
Mind the gap: Industry leaders and execs steal the spotlight in Phuket
The Phuket Hotels Association, a non-profit dedicated to a brighter future for Phuket, teamed up with award-winning hospitality consultancy C9 Hotelworks to host a dazzling array of the industry’s most inspiring female execs, entrepreneurs, and diversity leaders at last week’s Mind the Gap: Women & Diversity in Hospitality event in Phuket. Taking centre stage was Pranapda Phornprapha Chirathivat, the trailblazing…
- Thailand Hotels
PHIST 2024 calls for sustainable development in Thailand
“They paved paradise and put up a parking lot,” Joni Mitchell once sang—a line that now eerily echoes the over-development plaguing Thailand’s top tourist hotspots. With the recent catastrophic floods in Phuket raising alarm bells, are these disasters a grim glimpse of the future? And is anyone paying attention to the growing environmental crisis? These questions took centre stage at…
- Business News
Thai hotel sector sees pre-pandemic level investment surge
Thailand’s hotel sector is undergoing a resurgence in investment mirroring pre-pandemic levels, with the boost being propelled by an increase in hotel conversions and an uptick in bank lending, because of a hopeful tourism market. The information is according to C9 Hotelworks, a hospitality consultancy firm. The firm’s managing director, Bill Barnett, reported an upbeat market and investment sentiment, thanking…
- Tourism News
Thriving start-up culture flourishes in Thailand’s surf capital: Khao Lak
As the rainy monsoon season blankets the Southern coast of Thailand’s Andaman Sea, the high-energy surf season springs to life in Khao Lak. At the heart of this burgeoning aqua sports scene is Memories Beach in Pakarang, a magnetic locale that captivates a diverse mix of enthusiastic Thai and foreign travelers. In recent years, Khao Lak’s surf scene has experienced…
- Bangkok News
Bangkok is back – Thailand’s capital roars back into gear
OPINION Before the pandemic, Bangkok was the most-visited city on the planet – a thriving hive of energy and activity which attracted over 22 million international visitors per year. Then, without warning, it all went quiet. Now, following the long-awaited reopening of Thailand’s borders on November 1, 2021, Bangkok is back. The city is welcoming the world’s travellers once again,…
- Tourism News
Welcome back home: Phuket’s message to the world, echoes its X-Factor, its people
“As the countdown to the Sandbox hits seven days, resort island pays tribute to its real-life tourism attraction.” OPINION by Bill Barnett, c9hotelworks.com Tourism eyes around the world are focused on a resort island in Thailand this week for the reopening of international, vaccinated travel to the Phuket Sandbox. A key emerging storyline from the island’s frenzied runaway to July…
- Phuket News
Can Phuket survive? Interview with Bill Barnett | VIDEO
Interview with Bill Barnett from c9Hotelworks. Phuket has now been hit with a 3rd major crisis, each one more profound than the long-term effects from the 2004 tsunami. Now the island has new restrictions imposed on arrivals on the southern island, imposed by the Phuket Provincial Authority.
- Tourism News
The case for temporarily closing hotel and restaurant operations
OPINION by Bill Barnett As the final days of disruptive 2020 come screeching to an erratic end, hotel, and restaurant owners are peering into an unpredictable year ahead. Here in Thailand over the past week, the tourism industry has been shaken to its core over an uptick in Covid-19 cases and backroom speculation over fears of another round of lockdowns. (Restrictions,…
- Covid-19 News
Re-opening Thailand to tourism will be vaccine dependent
Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com continues to follow the difficult journey of the Thai hospitality industry. Traditionally, now would be the start of the country’s highly profitable high season for the tourism industry. But not this year. Thai hotels find themselves in the middle of an existential crisis – either still closed, only partly open, or one of the few converted…
- Phuket News
How Thailand’s domestic tourism market fell in love with Khao Lak during a pandemic
While Thailand’s doors remain mostly shut to international tourists, Thailand’s domestic travel wanderlust has turned Khao Lak into an Instagram hero. In the first 2 months of this year, according to research by consulting group C9 Hotelworks’ new Khao Lak Hotel Market Update occupancies soared above 80%. With the Covid-19 lockdowns, occupancy plunged in April and May, but as domestic…
- Tourism News
Phuket & Koh Samui face financial ruin in the short to medium term – VIDEO
Phuket and Samui are both islands, fed mostly by arrivals at their international airports. Of course, both remain closed and the islands are trying to survive on a dribble of domestic tourists. And there’s no sign of hope any time soon for the future. Bill Barnett is ‘Mr Hotel & Hospitality’ for Thailand and the region. What does he see…
- Covid-19 News
“Open the borders, safely”, Bill Heinecke, Minor International interview – VIDEO
Bill Heinecke speaks to Bill Barnett. The two heavy-hitters of Thailand’s hotel and hospitality sector, mull over the current Covid situation and the reopening of Thailand’s borders to some form of tourism. Bill Heinecke is the Chairman and Founder of Minor International. Bill Barnett is the Managing Director of c9hotelworks.com Now the Thai government has approved the special long-term tourist…
- Thailand News
Thailand News Today | Emergency Decree, Parliamentary protest, Dark days for hotels | September 25
Daily TV news about Thailand, delivered fresh, and free, to you. Hosted by Tim Newton. Catch the latest updates and Thai News. Charter vote delayed, committee formed and Senators escape Parliament by boat Thailand’s MPs and Senators have kicked the constitutional can down the road at least a month after the parliament failed to agree on charter amendments yesterday. A…
- Tourism News
The future of Thailand’s hotels, tough times ahead – VIDEO
Thailand’s hotels are facing a very dark time with the Thai borders still largely closed and many of them remaining closed for business. Whilst some local domestic stimulus has provided a bit of a minor reboot for the battered industry, there is still more than 90% of the rooms in the country remaining unoccupied with staff unemployed, debts and leases…
- Environment News
PHIST – Asia’s largest online tourism event, returns this September
PHIST, the Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism, is set to break down boundaries again with a “virtual” version of Asia’s largest sustainable travel and hospitality event on September 7. Over 1,200 of the industry’s leading figures are expected to attend this socially-distant online gathering. The online event will include keynote addresses, interactive sessions, educational workshops and a green exhibition.…
- Business News
Home alone. Phuket hotels hit a speed bump.
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com In the latest news, Singapore’s move to impose a stay-home policy or self-isolation for travellers within ASEAN, has hit the industry hard. Here in Phuket, hotels are winding down their traditional snowbird European business which for the most part was booked well in advance. Rates have somewhat held during this time. One key barometer of…
- Events
1000 gather in Phuket to join the global cry on climate change
Asia’s largest travel and tourism sustainability event, opened in Phuket yesterday, as Southeast Asia’s hospitality industry came together in a spirit of collaboration to tackle the critical environmental issues facing resort destinations across the region. A year on from the inaugural edition of PHIST, the event continues to grow. A record attendance of 1,000 delegates attended the full-day event, held…
- Phuket News
Top 5 things Phuket hotel developers should know
by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com Taking a 2020 view of Phuket’s hotel development pipeline that has now surpassed 15,000 new keys it’s hard not to be apprehensive. From a macro standpoint, the destination’s airlift and location are key success factors. But for the myriad cast of new and inexperienced hotel developers out there, perhaps a visit down Alice’s rabbit hole…
