Arrivals show steady monthly recovery as of YTD November 2023

• Bangkok welcomed 50,907,458 passengers as of YTD November 2023, a 49.5% improvement from the same period in 2022. Domestic arrivals rose to 27,436,831 passengers, a y-o-y increase of 5.0%. Most notably, international passengers accounted for 46.1% of all arrivals into Bangkok, with a total of 23,470,627 arrivals, a y-o-y increase of 197%.
• In 2023, China rebounded as the top source market for Thailand, albeit at 30% of pre-pandemic levels. South Korea, India, Russia and Vietnam followed as key source markets. Malaysia was excluded due to inflated numbers from daily cross-border travel. Notably, there has been increased intra-Asia travel from countries such as Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia compared to 2019.

Bangkok welcomes five additional hotels in 4Q23

• Five new hotels opened in 4Q23, adding 1,229 keys. Among these were two upscale properties: Ten Six Hundred, Chao Phraya, Bangkok by Preference, and Grande Centre Point Surawong. In addition, the city welcomed two midscale properties, The Quarter Ratchathewi and Courtyard by Marriott Suvarnabhumi Hotel. The only luxury opening was the 250-key InterContinental Bangkok Sukhumvit.
• In 2023, 16 new properties opened in Bangkok, contributing a total of 3,391 keys to the city’s hotel supply. Among these, eight were upscale properties, collectively accounting for 55.5% of the additional supply. Due to a large number of projects being delayed, 12,039 keys are expected to be added to Bangkok’s hotel supply by the end of 2025.

RevPAR of luxury hotels improves by 28.1% from 2019

• YTD December 2023, luxury hotels in Bangkok recorded an improvement in performance, with revenue per available room (RevPAR) increasing by 28.1% to THB 5,873 from 2019. This can be predominantly attributed to an increase in average daily rate (ADR) by 42.3% during the same period.
• Similarly, upscale hotels experienced an increase in RevPAR by 2.8% to THB 2,877, with this growth also being attributed to improvements in the ADR by 18.4%. However, midscale hotels experienced a decrease in RevPAR by 9.4% to THB 1,491, due to decreases in occupancy and RevPAR by -5.9 percentage points and -3.6%, respectively.

Outlook: Occupancy set to be key driver behind RevPAR growth in 2024

• Visa exemptions from countries such as China, India and Taiwan are expected to boost inbound tourism and improve trading performance in 1H24. Arrivals from China are forecast to gradually ramp up throughout 2024 before returning to pre-pandemic levels in 2025.
• The recovery outlook for Bangkok is bullish, with ADR to remain strong in 2024 and occupancy set to be the key driver behind RevPAR growth. Gross operating profit is expected to improve in 2024 compared to 2019 and 2023, as efficiencies observed during the pandemic are retained.