Phuket enjoys the rise of Indian travellers

Chinese tourists continues to slow down from last year

A slowdown in the growth rates of Chinese travellers allows the city to welcome more travellers from other destinations than before.

TTG Asia reports that C9 Hotelworks has forecasted a slowdown in the growth rates of Chinese travellers Phuket has witnessed in recent years, with Indian travellers now becoming the main competitor to Chinese.

“Despite negative industry sentiment of a continued drop in the period of August through October, a soft landing ensued in the final two months of the year driven mostly on rates, and by year-end the new normal kicked in,” commented C9’s managing director and one of the judges of the PropertyGuru Thailand Property Awards, Bill Barnett.

More: Rental returns drive Phuket market

Moving into 2019, Jesper Palmqvist of hospitality intelligence group STR added, “when looking at the long-term historic trend, the pipeline of new supply but conversely also the increased competition in the region for Chinese demand, it is plausible that this recent pressure on Phuket performance will continue into the second half of the year.”

C9 Hotelworks also reported that in 2018 Indian inbound travellers recorded a 56% year-on-year increase as direct flights to the island were opened from Mumbai, New Delhi and Bengaluru. With more airlift coming in 2019, The numbers are also expected to increase with more airlift coming in 2019.