Political unrest hits Thai occupancy - STR Global
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Data from STR Global, the leading provider of market information to the hotel industry, has highlighted the plight of local markets in Thailand in the wake of the country’s recent political disruption.
The recent political unrest in Bangkok has affected the country’s hospitality industry, already struggling to cope with worsening global economic conditions. Over the five months from November 2008 to March 2009 the four Thai markets tracked by STR Global (Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin and Phuket) have reported monthly declines of over 30% in revenue per available room (revPAR) against the comparable period the previous year. The falls in revPAR were driven by declining occupancy levels that, on a positive note, were not matched by similar declines in average daily rates (ADR).
“It is reassuring to see that average room rates declined significantly less than occupancy and revPAR should be able to start improving as soon as occupancy and travel demand recovers,” explained Jonas Ogren, Area Director Asia for STR Global.
However, taking a longer-term perspective, data from STR Global showed that Thailand has been underperforming since September 2006, the time of most recent military coup. The percentage change in year-on-year revPAR for Thailand has been consistently worse than that for other regional countries since then.
Five-month performance of selected Thai markets (November 08 to March 09) and percentage change to prior timeframe
City
Occupancy
Occupancy change (%)
ADR (THB)
ADR change (%)
RevPAR (THB)
RevPAR change (%)
Bangkok
52.7%
-31.6
3,565
-3.7
1,879
-34.1
Chiang Mai
43.0%
-31.9
3,755
-11.9
1,616
-40.0
Hua Hin
57.4%
-27.0
5,175
-9.0
2,968
-33.6
Phuket
60.8%
-24.8
5,328
-10.9
3,237
-33.0
STR Global
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