AN increase in flight connectivity to Thailand’s resort island of Samui has greatly benefited hotels there, especially those in the lower-tier segments, according to a report by C9 Hotelworks.
During the first six months of 2016, year-on-year international arrivals have grown by 18 per cent with Samui Airport welcoming a total of 624,914 visitors from both overseas and domestic flights.
True to other Thai markets, China is leading the growth with a 26 per cent rise in arrivals versus the same period in 2015, while Australians rose by 21 per cent. The passenger growth is reflected by a 10 per cent spike in additional flights mainly from Singapore, Malaysia and from within Thailand.
In tandem, Samui’s hotel occupancy sharply rose by 7.7 per cent from January through August, with average room rates seeing only a minor 1 per cent increase, indicated hospitality benchmarking group STR.
Bangkok Airways plans to further expand China airlift, adding daily scheduled flights from Guangzhou and three-times weekly charter flights from Chongqing by the end of 2016. Greater frequency of flights between Samui and Phuket will also be added in the fourth quarter of this year.
“Bangkok Airways plans to extend its coverage of Mainland China to accommodate demand in tours, and we forecast a growing supply share of lower-tier hotels (as a result), which are already becoming more visible in the pipeline projects,” said Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks.
