STR’s latest figures show that occupancy, average daily rates (ADR) and revenue per available room (RevPAR) all grew.
Rising demand levels (up by 13.3 per cent) helped boost occupancy 10 points to 69.2 per cent and pushed ADR up by 4.9 per cent to B3,226. RevPAR grew 15.4 per cent to B2,232 in 2012.
Thailand has been undergoing a strong recovery from recent political turbulence and the flooding of 2010, as Bangkok, Phuket, Koh Samui, Pattaya and Chiang Mai illustrated growth in all three performance metrics, STR said.
“The increase in hotel performance was underlined by the growing numbers of visitors as Thailand welcomed 22.3 million visitors in 2012,” said Elizabeth Randall Winkle, STR’s managing director.
Koh Samui achieved the highest ADR (B6,910) out of all Thai markets, due to its concentration of luxury hotels.
A substantial occupancy growth of 27.1 per cent helped fuel a RevPAR increase of 29.4 per cent to B4,224. This was accelerated by demand growth of 31.3 per cent, while supply saw a comparatively moderate increase of 3.3 per cent.
Hua Hin/Cha-am was the only market to experience a decline in ADR (-2.2 per cent), but even there RevPAR was up 5 per cent and occupancy by 7.3 per cent.
Supply increases were most prominent in Bangkok (+4.3 per cent), where 2,993 rooms were opened in 2012. The capital achieved the second-highest demand increase (+15.6 per cent) behind Koh Samui (+31.3 per cent), followed by Chiang Mai (+14.3), Hua Hin/Cha Am (+11.5), Pattaya (+9.8) and Phuket (+4.4).
After Koh Samui, Chiang Mai exhibited the strongest RevPAR growth (+19.3 per cent to B1,721) and occupancy growth (+13.4 per cent).