So What's New?
A monthly round-up of the latest Samui information.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
So What's New?
A monthly round-up of the latest Samui information
Marking Mercure’s arrival
The Accor Hotel Group has expanded on Samui with the opening of two new resorts: The Mercure Samui Buri Resort in Maenam, and The Mercure Samui Fenix in Lamai.
The Mercure Samui Buri Resort sits on the peaceful beach in Maenam and is described as being perfect for couples on honeymoon or in need of a relaxing break. It has 56 deluxe rooms and 29 private villas. Leisure facilities include a fitness centre, a large outdoor pool with a Jacuzzi, tour desk, an Internet lounge, and Thai cooking classes. Function facilities are available for up to 100 people and weddings can also be arranged in the function rooms or on the beach.
The Mercure Samui Fenix is on Lamai Beach, the second largest tourist area of the island and has 52 contemporary rooms and 8 villas. The highlight of the hotel’s leisure facilities is a 600 sq.m swimming pool. Other facilities include the Nest restaurant, lobby lounge, Nest Pool Bar, pool deck, and a fitness centre. A small meeting room is also available.
Accor’s Vice President for Thailand, Cambodia and Laos, Mr. Oswald Pichler, said, “Samui is an ever-emerging destination with constant development of infrastructure and facilities appealing to international and domestic tourists. These two Mercure hotels, which portray the quality guaranteed by the Mercure brand, will fulfil demand for quality, internationally managed mid-scale hotels on the island. We have successfully operated Mercure hotels in other major tourist destinations in Thailand, such as Pattaya and Phuket, and we will bring the best features of these hotels to the Samui hotel operations.”
Both resorts are currently offering special promotions. For stays at the Mercure Samui Buri Resort guests can pre-purchase Bt10,000 worth of services, such as accommodation, food & beverage and spa treatments, and the hotel will top-up the account with an additional 50% credit for use on the hotel’s products and services.
Alternatively, you can stay at the Mercure Samui Fenix for just Bt2,730 per room, per night, in a Superior room. This offer includes daily breakfast for two, sunset cocktails, a sea view room guaranteed, and 20% discount on food & beverage and Thai massage. For an additional Bt1,000 per room, per night, guests can upgrade to a Villa. These special offers are valid until October 31st, 2009.
Bangkok Airways – beyond value
Bangkok Airways has launched a ‘Beyond Value’ promotion offering airfares plus free accommodation from Bt4,600 for a one-night stay on any Thailand domestic routes, whilst the prices for the international routes start from Bt4,900.
These prices are inclusive of tax, insurance, and fuel surcharge and are valid for trips made before the 31st of July. The promotion is aimed at increasing air travel during the summer months to various destinations. Bangkok Airways flies to Chiang Mai, Sukhothai, Trat (Koh Chang), Phuket, Samui, Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Luang Prabang, Yangon, Ho Chi Minh City, the Maldives, Hiroshima, Guilin and Xi’an (the promotion on flights to the Maldives ends on the 30th of June).
Every purchase of an air ticket comes with complimentary hotel accommodation on a twin-sharing basis with breakfast and airport transfers. If you’re visiting Guilin or Xi’an, you are further entitled to a complimentary four-day tour, with meals and a tour guide.
FlyerBonus members can also enjoy earning 10 points for a one-way domestic flight, 15 points for a one-way flight within the Indochina region, 20 points for routes to China, and 25 points for the Maldives and Hiroshima.
Seven-up for Starwood
Starwood has reaffirmed its position in the top ten biggest hotel groups, in terms of inventory, and has announced its commitment to opening more hotels this year, including seven in the Asia Pacific region and 14 in China before the end of the year. A spokesperson for the company confirms that 2010 will see the hotel really expand its inventory growth for the Asia Pacific region bringing the total to 20 as well as an additional 25 in China.
Kerrie Mulholland, Starwood Senior Manager New Builds and Transitions Asia Pacific, said, “These projects have been planned for a long time, and it’s not really possible to delay them any more. We’re really looking at China and India this year with four more properties set to launch in India by the end of the year.”
In 2009, Starwood is set to launch new properties in Kuching, Malaysia; Incheon, South Korea; Nha Trang, Vietnam; and here on Samui, Thailand, as well as four new properties in India located in Hyderabad, Pune and two in Mumbai.
TAT reviving tourism
In a bid to revive the national tourist industry, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is reworking parts of its marketing and promotion strategy. Speaking at the launch of Thailand Tourism Market (TTM), Khun Juthaporn Rerngronasa, Deputy Governor for Marketing Communications TAT, revealed that arrival figures of 3.2 million visitors, for the first four months of 2009, was down by 19% on the same period last year.
However, the drop in numbers was not uniform across all source markets. Visitor numbers from the Middle East increased by 11.5% in the first quarter of 2009 whilst visitors from South Asia rose 3.6%. Referring to the three key factors that have contributed to the decline in tourist arrivals – the global economic downturn, Thailand’s political situation and the H1N1 virus – Khun Juthaporn said, “The TAT is proactively communicating to potential visitors to ensure their correct understanding of each factor.”
The TAT will also embark on road-shows to China, Korea, Taiwan, India and Dubai to reinforce Thailand’s reputation as a value-for-money destination. The tourism body has identified four market clusters that will be targeted in different ways:
- The Ready to Travel Group includes markets such as Scandinavia, Russia, the Middle East and India, which have not been influenced by the recently unstable political situation in Thailand.
- The Returning Visitors Group, which includes Europe and the UK, are seen as markets with a strong affinity with Thailand but who are mindful of the uncertain political situation in the country, and are affected by tough economic times.
- The Concerned Traveller Group includes China, Australia and Vietnam; a group with reservations about returning to Thailand until the political situation is finally resolved.
And, finally, the Highly Sensitive Traveller Group, which includes Japan, Korea and Taiwan. This market is regarded as the most sensitive to the political instability and will be targeted with customised marketing campaigns aimed at rebuilding confidence in Thailand.
The smile returning to Thailand
Thailand’s universal nickname, The Land of Smiles, has certainly been put to the test recently. However, tour operators have had their hopes renewed after seeing a large number of visitors to the five-day travel fair at Impact Muang Thong Thani organised by the TAT.
In fact, the total number of visitors was up significantly from last year and participants were now more upbeat after facing difficulties this year. Khun Weerapatara Tansuwandee, a consultant to the Thai Tourism Promotion Association (TTPA),said, “I think the improved situation reflects the success of TAT campaigns to promote local travel among Thai people. I’m strongly confident that local people will travel more in the rest of the year.”
The TAT has invested Bt40 million in the campaign to attract local travellers, featuring attractions matched to all 12 months on the local tourism calendar. Khun Weerapatara said that now was a good time for people to travel because packages are so reasonably priced.
Khun Natthaya Lamor, a representative of Mekong World Holidays, said she and other operators were now more hopeful that the tourism market would recover, “I don’t know if they will buy packages or not, but I believe they are interested because we ran out of leaflets after the first two days. The packages are very cheap. We’ve cut the prices as much as we could to attract customers. We just hope they will travel more to help Thai tourism.”
Khun Supaporn Promcharoen came to the fair with her husband to look for bargain holiday packages for her family. She said, “I can say that the package prices are very cheap, I’ve already booked two. Normally, our family travels abroad at least once a year. This year we’ll travel domestically to help Thai tourism and save money too. Actually, Thailand is very good with a variety of interesting tourist destinations. I hope other people will think like us.”
Value-for-money label spreading
Yet another international survey has highlighted Thailand as the best value-for-money destination.
A CNN International online consumer survey on travel and tourism found that traveller’s find Thailand offers the best value for money in the Asia Pacific region.
The poll, conducted on the various CNN English websites globally, had more than 5,000 participants and Thailand was ranked as the number one Asia Pacific destination for value, followed by China in second place, and India, coming in third.
According to the poll, although the recession is making it harder to travel, it hasn’t affected people’s desire for travelling. Travellers are saving money by trading down, whilst not compromising on their overall travel experience. Overall, the survey found that more people are planning leisure travel in the coming 12 months than in 2008, but around 20% indicated they would be taking fewer trips.
A huge 79% of those polled in the Asia Pacific region indicated that they were likely to take a holiday within the region over the next 12 months. The same group, on average, reported spending slightly more than US$4,000 on their last holiday; which is higher than the worldwide average of $3,700.
And a substantial 46% of Asia Pacific region business travellers claimed that the economic downturn was not having an impact on their work-related travel.
Specific targets for medical tourists
The government of Thailand is seeking to promote medical tourism and aims to develop the country as a medical tourism hub for high-quality, low-cost health and medical services.
Visitors from Japan, Qatar and the UK are being specifically targeted. The quality and variety of services have both improved a great deal, and yet the prices remain relatively low in comparison to other countries.
Cosmetic surgery in Thailand is between 33-50% less than it is in the US, Europe or Australia. For example, a breast augmentation procedure in the US costs between $3-8,000, whilst in Thailand, the Bangkok Plastic Surgery Clinic quotes just $2600 for the same operation.
Cosmetic surgery is one issue seemingly unaffected by the economic downturn and, therefore, medical tourism could well become even more popular with visitors combining a holiday with a medical procedure. Thailand is in the fortunate position of being able to provide excellent medical services and fantastic holiday experiences.
Still positive
Khun Piraipan Chawalrut, the Managing Director and owner of Destination Beach Resort & Spa, remains optimistic that her initial investment of Bt450million in this lovely boutique hotel will be returned within the next six years, despite the global recession, political uncertainty and the outbreak of H1N1 flu.
“The island economy is still growing on an annual basis and this is driven by foreign tourist arrivals and a number of new hotels and resorts opening to serve the increased demand. At least five or six hotels and resorts will be officially opened this year, with each having invested more than Bt1 billion in construction. Major brands include Banyan Tree, D2 of the Dusit Thani chain, and W Hotels, a luxury division of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. The hotel and resort outlook is still positive on Koh Samui.”
Destination Beach Resort & Spa has scheduled an officially opening within the next two months. The property has 66 rooms, including 10 private villas, with rates ranging from Bt7-25,000 per night.
The company expects its customer base to be about 90% international tourists, mostly coming from the West, and from affluent Asian nations, such as South Korea and Hong Kong. Khun Piraipansaid,“In the past, Samui hotels could break even in only four years. But new hotels will take longer as construction and operating costs are growing higher every year.”
Current construction costs on Samui are about 30% higher than those onshore and basic infrastructure costs, such as piping water, are also high. Khun Piraipan expects an annual average occupancy rate of at least 60% with the company selling its rooms mainly through overseas travel agents.
Mint refreshing Samui
Minor International Plc (MINT) is planning to spend the rest of this year buying properties on Samui at bargain prices (because of the opportunities arising from the economic downturn and local political instability) to expand its current network.
Anantara is a hotel and resort management chain owned by MINT, and Khun Sathit Mansuwan, General Manager of Anantara Baan Rajprasong Serviced Suites, stated, “Many Samui hotels, particularly boutique hotels owned by local investors, have been struggling this year. We will see more local and international owners sell their businesses as their financial status weakens. We will try to buy some at bargain prices."
Khun Sathit also said that the situation would improve in the second half of this year but the question is, “How many operators will survive in the interim?”
MINT expects that revenues from the hotel business will drop in the second quarter and improve in the last quarter. Its 2009 hotel strategy is to explore the value-added market rather than reducing prices. The most important thing is to control operating costs and focus on the brand value of Anantara.
Anantara now has 10 hotels with 993 rooms in four countries and it expects to add two more hotels this year and at least five hotels within the next two years.
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