Phuket Airport is expecting a record 4 million passenger arrivals this year. According to data released in C9 Hotelworks Phuket Hotel Market Update, arrivals to Asia’s leading resort destination in the first half of the year increased 20 percent over the same period in 2010. Numbers are straining the handling capacity of the airport with Airports of Thailand expecting 7.95 million passengers (including domestic passengers) this year, which will exceed the stated capacity by 22 percent. A $164 million expansion plan that will increase handling to 12.5 million by 2014 will only start construction next year and tourism operators are increasingly concerned over mounting delays. The island's top five tourism source markets (in order) to date for 2011 are China, Russia, Australia, South Korea and Sweden.

A leading indicator in the cyclical development was shown in 2010 when charter flights hit their highest level. This equated to a 153 percent increase in year-on-year growth. As guest demographics evolve, the Patong area, which accounts for 35 percent of the 43,571 accommodation rooms on the island, produced an occupancy rate of 82 percent in the first half of 2011, with China and Russia now taking a quarter share of the market.

First half trading by volume markets saw a surge in Phuket’s average occupancy across all hotel tiers to 73 percent. Key market metric RevPAR (revenue per available room) moved up to its highest level since the global financial crises in 2008, C9 Hotelworks Managing Director Bill Barnett said. The report shows investment in Phuket’s hospitality sector has strong positive business sentiment with a supply pipeline for the island of 6,968 rooms. This will see an increase of 16 percent by the end of 2014.

C9 Hotelworks is hospitality consulting firm based in Phuket, and led by Barnett. With 26 years of experience in Asia Pacific, he is a leading specialist on hotel and property development issues. He is a columnist with a number of leading newspapers, including the Phuket Gazette and The Nation and has appeared on CNBC, the BBC and CNN. His popular blog, www.thephuketinsider.com, is the authoritative source of all Phuket hotel tourism and real estate issues and trends. More information on the company can be found at www.c9hotelworks.com.