Hotels
- Covid-19 News
Thailand turns to China to revive post-Covid tourist economy
The Covid-19 pandemic has crushed Thailand’s tourism sector, long considered a lifeline for the nation’s already battered economy, as numbers of foreign visitors have dropped below even the worst predictions plunging 76.4% in March from last year after a 42.8% drop in February. For an economy that derives 12-14% of its gross domestic product from tourism, receipts, the impact of…
- Tourism News
Back to business – time for Thailand’s tourist industry to get ready
OPINION by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com Tourism is a vital part of Thailand’s economy. And as the country emerges into the post-Covid world, getting tourists back to the country will be an essential springboard to the rest of the Thai economy. None of that will be automatic or easy as international travel has been severely disrupted and will take months,…
- Covid-19 News
Thailand prepares 3,500 hotel rooms to quarantine returnees after flight ban is lifted
Thailand is anticipating an onslaught of quarantined returnees once the incoming flight ban is lifted, and the government is preparing about 3,500 private hotel rooms in Bangkok and upcountry, to house them. The ban, imposed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand, is due to expire next Saturday. Thailand’s Deputy Defence Minister and Defence Permanent Secretary met with officials today…
- Covid-19 News
Cabinet approves ‘force majeure’ closure of hotels
The Cabinet has approved the ‘force majeure’ closure of hotels and any lodging businesses, with additional compensation for businesses that are under the social security scheme. There will now be compensation for employees of hotel and lodging businesses for their loss of income, either due to the government’s shutdown order or their owner’s decision to close down during the current…
- Covid-19 News
UPDATE: PM vows to track down the errant passengers. Chaos at Suvarnabhumi – VIDEO
UPDATE: PM orders yesterday’s BKK arrivals to report to state quarantine facilities, or be arrested. The Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha has told 152 Thais who landed at Suvarnabhumi International Airport yesterday afternoon, and refused to enter the state-organised quarantine, to report themselves before 6pm tonight (Saturday) so they can start their 14 day supervised quarantine, or else. A total of…
- Covid-19 News
Phuket governor orders all hotels to close
The Phuket Governor has ordered all accommodation establishments on the island to shut down as of tomorrow. The order includes: Hotels still with guests are allowed to remain open, but they are not to accept any more guests. The order warns that breaches of the order under ‘Section 12’ of the Communicable Disease Act 2015, will be fined up to…
- Covid-19 News
Hundreds of Thai hotels seek aid to protect employees
Will the Thai Social Security Office compensate hundreds of hotels pursuing emergency assistance? Hotels are doing it hard as tourism has come to a virtual halt inside Thailand and hotels are either closing or scaling back their operations substantially. Yesterday, The Thai Hotel Associations sent a letter to the Thai Chamber of Commerce notifying them that hundreds of hotels are…
- Covid-19 News
Minor International pleads with Thai PM for a full lockdown
“I believe that under your strong leadership, the message to stay home, limit personal movement and avoid interaction with others will be taken to heart and will help us overcome this crisis.” Thai hotel chain Minor International has sent a frank letter pleading with the Thai PM Prayut Chan-o-cha and Bangkok Governor Aswin Kwanmuang to curb public movement and activities…
- Phuket News
Phuket, Bangkok and Chiang Mai hard hit over ‘palpable’ tourism drop
The 2019-nCoV coronavirus, the official name for the Wuhan or Novel Corononavirus, is resulting in dozens of high-season flights to Thai southern beach resorts being cancelled. The virus is already deemed an international public health emergency by the World Health Organisation. “While Patong survived and thrived after SARS, the tsunami and a few army coups, this virus is stripping our…
- Phuket News
Health officials now checking Chinese tourists in Phuket hotels
Health officials in Phuket are checking up and visiting Chinese tourists at local hotels over worries about the Wuhan Coronavirus. Though there are no confirmed cases on the island, officials are performing the checkups as precautions intensify to contain the spread of the virus. Phuket’s deputy governor says officials are now taking more proactive measures to combat the coronavirus, with…
- Bangkok News
Forecasts for Bangkok property 2020
A supply influx of new office space is on the way while the overall retail industry faces low consumer confidence. But, in 2019, the number of Chinese tourists to Thailand has started recovering, says CBRE, an international property consultant. Bangkok Office Market The office market in Bangkok continues to perform strongly for this, but CBRE identifies challenges that are heading…
- Business News
Minor International battles Marriott over popular Phuket hotel property in court
Marriott International, the American international hotel company, has failed in its bid to secure an injunction in a Thai court to stop a legal claim filed by the Minor International group. Minor International (MINT) says that its subsidiary MI Squared Ltd had filed a legal claim in a Thai court against Marriott International and the Thai subsidiary Luxury Hotels &…
- Tourism News
Hotel association wants rules on short-term rentals, home sharing
PHOTO: Airbnb and other accommodation-share businesses, plus a glut of newly opened hotels rooms across the country, is putting pressure on the traditional hotel model The Thai Hotels Association has again asked for a meeting with the Minister of the Interior to discuss the impact of short-term rentals and home sharing services like Airbnb on the domestic hotel business. The…
- Business News
Strong interest of foreign investors in Phuket’s resorts – JLL report
PHOTO: Dhawa Phuket “In the Asia Pacific, Phuket is one of the three hotel investment markets in the region that have been highlighted.” Buoyed by the rise of experience-driven travel and an affinity toward locally-inspired hotel offerings, resort assets remain a top target among investors. According to JLL Hotels & Hospitality’s Global Resort Report, resort sales accounted for 20% of…
- Tourism News
Chiang Mai hotels face a quiet end to 2019
PHOTO: Spice Roads Chiang Mai hotels are bracing for a quiet end to 2019, along with other Thai tourist hotspots, due to the strength of the baht, an over-supply of rooms and the growing popularity of home-sharing accommodations like Airbnb. Hoteliers in the northern city are also suffering the fall-out from the smoke haze crisis earlier in the year which…
- Pattaya News
Hotel guest in Pattaya shocked as staff force her to wash stained towel
PHOTO: www.ให้ความรู้.com A hotel guest in Pattaya who left a make-up stain on one of the towels in her room has been forced to clean it by staff before they would return her deposit. Atchareeya Sotrapram took to social media to share her rather unusual story, saying hotel staff advised her that unless she washed the towel to remove the…
- Tourism News
The China Syndrome, south east Asia’s tourism dilemma
PHOTO: Lunar New Year celebrations in Bali – Jakarta Post “When China sneezes, the rest of south east asia catches a cold.” From quiet markets in Malaysia, empty rooms in Hanoi’s hotels and barren beaches in Bali, China’s economic slowdown and weakening yuan are sending shockwaves felt across south east Asia’s vacation belt. Thailand is just one of many countries…
- Technology News
More than four million guests stayed in an Airbnb on August 10, 2019
“Airbnb has created an opportunity to meet people from all around the world.” – Pim, an Airbnb Host in Thailand Exactly 11 years since Airbnb was founded, the home-sharing hospitality company and ‘accommodation disrupters’ celebrated its biggest night ever, with more than 4 million people spending the night in an Airbnb listing on August 10, 2019. To date, there has…
- Tourism News
Greater Pattaya hosts hotel and tourism forum
On Thursday, September 5 a hotel and tourism market update event covering Greater Pattaya will be held at the Holiday Inn Pattaya. Jointly organised by industry leaders STR, Horwath HTL, C9 Hotelworks and the AMCHAM Thailand, the event will feature key hospitality operating and performance metrics. A special panel on the emerging trend of hotel residences will include senior executives from…
- Property
Amnesty program for unlicensed Thai hotels finishes September 9
PHOTO: We needed a photo of a small hotel. So this is The Small Hotel in Krabi (already licensed!!) The Thai government has issued guidelines for unlicensed hotels under their amnesty program. Hotels must submit applications and complete improvements before September 9, so time is of the essence. Baker McKenzie Thailand has outlined the process and guidelines which we are republishing…
- Tourism News
Phuket’s tourist bookings looking good – Diversity is the best option Part 3
by Guest Writer Over the past few months or so, we have read and noted much negativity in the world of tourism to Thailand’s most popular island of Phuket. As everyone is aware, May and June were particularly poor months for most tourism operators and hoteliers with several factors being mentioned to justify the drop which everyone is fully aware…
- 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…
- Phuket News
Phuket leads the way in managed hotel residences
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com – Feature article “Hotel Residences – properties that sell individual units in the real estate market and operate as either hotels or else are branded by hospitality operators. Other often used terms are condotel, hotel branded residences and hospitality-led real estate.” Phuket’s love affair with hotel managed properties started in the late 1980’s with the…
- Events
Phuket fights for sustainable tourism at PHIST 2019
Phuket readies to host PHIST 2019 in the fight against environmental degradation in Southeast Asia’s idyllic island destinations. PHIST (Phuket Hotels for Islands Sustaining Tourism) 2019 is a free-to-attend one-day conference that takes place on Thursday, September 23, 2019 at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa. The important event will gather approximately 1,000 delegates, including more than 70 of…
- Tourism News
Unregistered hotels and lodgings told to get their paperwork in order, or close down
At least 5,000 of the country’s estimated 23,000 unregistered small hotels are expected to get their paperwork in order. The rush to action follows the announcement by the current government to register and comply with the Hotel Act, or be closed down. Most of Thailand’s busy tourist spots are rampant with small and illegal lodgings for tourists. Whilst the growth…
- Tourism News
Is Airbnb taking over the Thai hotel industry?
Airbnb is posing a less significant threat to hotels in Thailand than expected, but its influence in the longer term should not be underestimated, according to real estate company JLL Offering new alternatives to travellers, Airbnb is certainly taking some of the wind out of the sails of the traditional hotel accommodation model. However, findings from Jone Lang Lasalle (JLL) shows…
- Hua Hin News
Register your hotel within 30 days – Hua Hin unlicensed premises warned
FILE PHOTO 170 illegal hotel and resort operators in Hua Hin have been warned to register and obtain Hotel licences within a month or they will face jail or a fine. The Hua Hin district chief, Thanon Phanpipas, says the operators of unlicensed hotels and resorts must register within a month from May 16 or they would face a maximum…
- World News
Now you can ‘Grab’ a hotel as well
If you’ve used Grab you’ll realise what a big announcement this is. It immerses yet another service within their intuitive App. Grab, already a leading App in Southeast Asia, has announced the launch of its ‘Hotels’ booking service. The company says customers will now be able to book hotels and other accommodation from Agoda and soon, Booking.com directly from their Grab…
- Koh Samui News
Raid on 18 foreign-owned Koh Samui hotels, owners arrested
FILE PHOTO Army, police and municipal officials have raided 18 hotels on Koh Samui claiming that they are illegally owned by foreigners. The hotels in questions are on a mountainside on the Gulf island, the second largest island in Thailand. Officials carried out the search and raids on Chaweng Noi Mountain in Moo 6 village in Tambon Bophut and found…
- World News
Sri Lanka attacks ‘retaliation for Christchurch’ – Government minister
The Islamist suicide bombings that killed 321 people, and injured many others in Sri Lanka at the weekend, are believed to have been carried out in revenge for last month’s attacks on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Fifty people were shot dead on March 15 at two mosques in the South Island, New Zealand city by an avowed white…
