POSITIONED as Asia’s first sports hotel, Thanyapura Sports Hotel in Phuket officially opened in late March and is taking aim at professional athletes and active leisure tourists.
The 77-room property is part of the 23-hectare Thanyapura Sports & Leisure Club compound, which includes eight sports academies and facilities including a full-size International Rugby Board-standard pitch, FIFA-standard football pitch, 50m Olympic-standard swimming pool, 500m cushioned athletics track, six tennis courts and a 900m2 fitness centre.
Thanyapura has customised its sales and marketing activities in order to tap the professional/specialist segment.
Said Robert Hauck, president, Thanyapura: “We’re not operating in a typical market so going through regular channels, such as travel consultants, isn’t really going to work on the whole.”
Instead, he shared that Thanyapura would work with strategic partners with strong contacts, such as a European swimming agent who is also the coach for the Dutch national team.
He said: “For rugby, we’re working with an All Blacks (team member) who will retire next season and move to Phuket. We’re also working with the Women’s Tennis Association.”
Sports clients now make up 80 per cent of the hotel’s guests, though the property is targeting a mix of 40 per cent FITs and 60 per cent sports travellers in the medium term.
Asia – namely Hong Kong, Singapore, China, Malaysia, Japan and India – is the largest source market contributing 30 per cent of guests, followed by Europe (UK, Germany, Switzerland and France) at 20 per cent, and Australia and New Zealand, US and Canada, and Thailand each accounting for 15 per cent.
Thanyapura is in preliminary discussions with companies from India, Madagascar and South Africa to develop sports hotel-like products for those markets, said Hauck.
