According to a report by hospitality consulting firm, C9 Hotelworks, Pattaya is well on track to accommodate a record-breaking total of 8 million hotel guests in 2012 – the highest-ever number of visitors to a Thai tourist destination.
Article written by Nick Pendrell, author of ‘Pattaya Property & Thailands Real Estate’
The report indicated that occupancy rose by 17% and 9% in 2010 and 2011 respectively, while the number of visitors to the region doubled in 2010 after a poor 2009 due to the aftershock from the economic meltdown of 2008.
Greater quantities of Russian and Chinese tourists, together with a large increase in the number of Thai visitors to the city from other parts of the country were largely responsible for the increase in number of tourists visiting the city this year. As a result, Pattaya now overshadows other resort locations such as Phuket, Koh Samui and Hua Hin as being the most popular tourist destination in Thailand for both Thais and foreigners alike.
The constantly increasing tourist numbers have led to boom times for developers of property in Pattaya as sales have grown exponentially over the past three years. Many visitors to the city are attracted by the low cost of buying property – with one-bedroom apartments starting from just £20,000 – and the low costs of living in Thailand compared to those elsewhere in the world. Pattaya is also becoming of increasing interest to international investors due to the high rental yields that it is possible to obtain from property in the city.
Leading Thai developer, Raimon Land, reported an average rental yield of 8% during 2011, with several projects seeing rental returns which are well into double digits. Pattaya is also benefitting from increased demand from residents of Bangkok following the opening of a new highway which means that it is now possible to get from Bangkok to Pattaya in around 90 minutes – making the city the perfect location for a weekend break for residents of the capital.
High season in Pattaya, when the city is at its busiest, runs from October through to April and so the leading developers in the city are currently waiting before releasing a significant number of hotly anticipated new developments onto the market in preparation for what many observers of the local market believe will be the most active buying season that Pattaya has seen to date.
In preparation for this surge in demand expected this autumn, international property analyst, Nick Pendrell, has launched a new book, Pattaya Property and Thailand Real Estate. The book, which is now available in paperback and on all major ebook formats, demystifies what can appear, at first glance, to be a complicated buying process and also gives full details of more than forty of the most popular developments in the city, explaining their advantages and disadvantages for each buyer depending upon their own, unique needs.
The views and comments herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Rightmove Overseas, Rightmove Group Ltd or Rightmove Plc