Newest hot spot for Thai hotels

BANGKOK Si Racha, a coastal town on Thailand’s eastern seaboard is best known for its red hot chili sauce, Sriracha, used to spice seafood dishes.

But as industrial activity on the eastern seaboard grows the town is now on the radar for international hotel brands.

C9 Hotelworks focuses on the emerging hotel market of the eastern seaboard town in its latest report.

It notes Accor’s Novotel, Ascott’s Somerset and Centara along with a Movenpick in the pipeline. They attest to the growing popularity and business potential for hotel operators.

C9 Hotelworks released a new report titled Si Racha Serviced Apartment Market Update 2016, earlier this week, offering insights and cover of the area’s hotels.

Si Racha, Chonburi, is Thailand’s second largest industrial zone by scale, with over 65,000 work permits issued and home to the second largest Japanese community outside of Bangkok in the country.

Currently, the hotel and serviced apartment market stands at slightly more than 3,500 units, while strong investment sentiment has bolstered the pipeline with 2,239 new keys expected to enter the market by 2018.

According to C9 Hotelworks’ research on the serviced apartment sector more branded properties will  enter the supply pipeline before the end of this year.

While short term the market is expected to be influenced by changes in the supply demand scenario, longer-term the planned high-speed Eastern Seaboard train project could be a major game changer for the area, the report suggests.

Meanwhile, hotels and serviced apartments are going to have to look for more diverse segmentation and the impact from new condo product is also expected to hit the core long-stay rental segment.