Bangkok, Thailand – 15 February 2017 –
Hotel investments in Thailand will likely set a record this year despite a year-on-year decline in the previous year, according to a property consultant.
In baht terms, hotel investments fell to 9.6 billion in 2016 from 11.3 billion in 2015 but this year will likely see the total reach 20 billion baht, according to JLL’s Hotels and Hospitality Group.
The firm’s projection is based on a number of hotel sales likely to be concluded this year including the sale of the 10.8-billion-baht Swissotel Nai Lert Park.
According to JLL, Thailand saw robust investment activity in 2016, with more than 10 hotels and hospitality assets sold in Bangkok and major provinces. Of this, five assets were brokered by JLL on behalf of the sellers.
However, the volume was down by around 15 percent from last year, due largely to a lack of large hotels available for sale following the Swissotel Nai Lert Park deal to be completed in 2017.
Some of the key investment transactions recorded over the year were hotel sales in Bangkok, such as Eight Thonglor (formerly Pan Pacific Residences, since rebranded as Akyra Thonglor) and Liberty Garden Hotel.
Other transactions spread across major tourism destinations including Pattaya, Phuket, Phang Nga, Koh Samui, Hua Hin and Chiang Rai. Other deals took place in the Northeast gateway city of Nakhon Ratchasima and the industrial town of Sri Racha.
While most of the hotels sold last year were bought by Thais, institutional investors from Hong Kong and Singapore were also active buyers, accounting for around 45 percent of the transaction volume.