Hua Hin's tourism is over 70% domestic

[buksida]

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has designed a five-pronged strategy to rebuild domestic tourism after the severe flooding.

Thawatchai Arunyik, deputy governor for domestic marketing, said the first measure, intra-regional travel, is set to start this week and run until the end of January. People will be encouraged to visit nearby attractions rather than go across regions. That would continue to augment business in communities.

The authority will not focus on already crowded destinations such as Pattaya, Hua Hin and Kanchanaburi.

Four plans are set for next year, as the flooding will have completely disappeared by then. It will begin with cross-region travel by encouraging people from all parts of the country to visit the Central region and Bangkok.

"TAT also will invite 10 travel agents from each province or more than 700 agents in January to see attractions in the Central region so they can develop packages afterward," he said.

TAT later will boost niche markets like medical and corporate in unaffected regions, particularly the Northeast. The plan is expected to start in January.

Health and healing will also get attention in the coming year in order to assist people to release stress and ease their pains.

Expat associations in major cities, including Pattaya, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Samui and Phuket would be asked to help promote domestic tourism as well as to communicate with their people overseas about the tourism situation in Thailand after the flood.

"We call this project 'Local to Global'. We'll ask Scandinavians in Hua Hin, Japanese in Chiang Mai, Germans in the Northeast and Europeans in Pattaya to help invite tourists to Thailand after the flooding," he said.

TAT plans to spend Bt70 million on the strategy. All 35 TAT offices nationwide are involved in the preparations.

Chumpol Silpa-archa, a deputy prime minister and the tourism minister, ordered organisations to prepare special relief campaigns and implement them immediately after the flood crisis dissipates. TAT predicts that the flooding would cause domestic travel to drop by 2 per cent or 1.8 million trips from the forecast 91 million trips this year. However, TAT has not yet revised the projection as it is waiting for the situation to settle down first.

Source: The Nation

[buksida]

Thailand's recent floods helped enhance Hua Hin's profile
HUA HIN, Thailand (eTN) - If Pattaya has not always had a very good image for travelers or even Thai locals, Hua Hin has, by contrast, always been considered as Thailand’s chic resort station near Bangkok. The fact that the city has long been a favorite for Thailand kings, from Rama V to the current Rama IX, certainly helped to protect the seaside destination’s image. The city is indeed Thailand’s oldest resort as it started to attract its first vacationers in the 1920s, helped by the opening of one of the country’s oldest rail links.

Today, it is still worth taking a train to Hua Hin just for the pleasure of arriving in an old wooden rail building. Even if this is not an original – it used to be a royal pavilion in Sanamchan Palace in Nakhon Pathom province and was rebuilt in Hua Hin only in 1968 - it exults a nostalgic atmosphere.

Hua Hin beachs are clean, the small town has a high density of chic and trendy shops, while boutique hotels are now spreading in any corner of the city. In the nineties, Chiva-Som spa and resort gave a new fame to the city as a spa destination.

But in contrary to Koh Samui, Phuket, or Pattaya, close to 70 percent of the tourists in Hua Hin are locals, or 714,000 over a total of 1.04 million guest arrivals in hotels in 2010. “And among foreign travelers coming to the resort, at least 20 percent of them are expatriates,” indicated Mrs. Pinnat Charoenphol, Director of TAT for Hua Hin and the province of Prachuat Kiri Khan. Finland, Norway, and Sweden are the largest foreign markets, all three representing between 38,000 and 45,000 arrivals per year.

According to Mrs. Charoenphol, the main reason for the small number of foreign visitors is the relative long time it takes to arrive to the resort. “Most of the foreign tourists arriving in Krabi, Phuket, and Samui come by air directly in connection with an intercontinental flight landing in Bangkok, and since the opening of the international airport in Suvarnabhumi, while Pattaya is by car less than an hour away,” added the TAT local director.

Recent flooding, however, is likely to increase the awareness of travelers for Hua Hin. With some parts of Bangkok being under water, local Thais and foreigners fled in the direction of the south. While Pattaya became rapidly saturated, many finally chose to go to Cha-Am and Hua Hin. Suddenly, Thai hi-so and wanna-be had to share their best-kept secret with hordes of foreigners. Between mid-October and the end of November, Hua Hin reached record levels with many hotels being fully booked or reaching occupancy rates of 80 to 90 percent.

Is Hua Hin's recent success only exceptional or did flooding forever turn the destiny of the small resort station? So far, TAT's promotion for Hua Hin targeted roughly two markets: family and sport amateurs. “Hua Hin with its unspoilt beaches and its resort hotels along the coast, is ideal for families. As it is also a very safe place with none of the sometimes 'seedy' attractions of Pattaya, we look at Hua Hin as a perfect family-oriented destination for long-stay tourists,” explained Pinnat Charoenphol. The city already made its name by having some of the best golf courses in Thailand. There are 8 courses within a 30-minute drive from town with 2or 3 more courses less than an hour away by car.

Hua Hin is also turning into a famed venue in Thailand for large events. The annual Jazz Festival is now a well-established annual event, attracting jazz musicians from all across the world. Sports events are also turning increasingly popular. Thailand’s International Kite Festival generally takes place during March to May, depending on the year. In August, Hua Hin hosted its third International Triathlon consisting of a 40-km cycle race, a 10-km run, and a 1.5-km swim. From a sleepy charming town, Hua Hin is now looking at competing with Thailand’s most famous seaside destinations.

Source: ETN

[margaretcarnes]

None of this stuff and stats really surprises me. The earliest HH expat I ever met was a Danish guy, who in 2000 had already had a house there for 30 years.
It's true that expat arrivals who have their own properties in HH will skew the stats a bit - but how often I wonder do those people actually re-enter the Kingdom? Maybe not enough to make a significant difference.
Yes - the earliest - or one of the earliest - realtors in HH was indeed Scandi. And Scandi Tours plus that ....matt tour agent have been there for many years, which supports the 'adventurous Scandinavians' theory. Maybe partly due to many of them being seafaring nations as well - which was certainly the case with that early Danish settler.
IMO it's good for HH to retain a high level of domestic tourism. It's a traditional Thai resort and will hopefully remain so. Many of the houses along Naebkerhardt on the beach side are still Thai owned holiday homes which have been in the same families for generations - which is good - because they - at least - are unlikely to turn into yet more hotels/restaurants.

[Super Joe]

IMO it's good for HH to retain a high level of domestic tourism. It's a traditional Thai resort and will hopefully remain so. Many of the houses along Naebkerhardt on the beach side are still Thai owned holiday homes which have been in the same families for generations - which is good - because they - at least - are unlikely to turn into yet more hotels/restaurants.

It's true that expat arrivals who have their own properties in HH will skew the stats a bit - but how often I wonder do those people actually re-enter the Kingdom? Maybe not enough to make a significant difference.

Good points Mags, also there must be a fair few Thais (wives & kids), that get counted in the 70% Thai visitor numbers that actually visit with a farang partner under the banner of 'international tourism'. They just seem to measure accomodation check-in's, then call all the Thais 'domestic tourists'. But to balance that there must be a lot of Thai visitors with their own condos, who likewise to farang property owners do not get counted.

The biggest thing that seems to skews/balance out the 70%-30% split, when looking at this from purely a 'tourism statistical' viewpoint, is visitor days spent & revenue. I saw a 2009 article that said Thai domestic tourists spend on ave. 2.5 days in Hua Hin, spending 2,040 Baht per head. TAT data says 2010 international visitors stayed on average 10.2 days, and spent 4,050 Baht. That was Thailand as a whole, but can't see why it would be much different for Hua Hin!?

So,
Thai visitors @ 714,000 x 2.5 days = 1,785,000 days spent, x 2,040 Baht = 3.6 Billion Baht.
International @ 330,000 x 10.2days= 3,366,000 days spent, x 4,050 Baht = 13.6 Billion Baht.

Paints a different picture hey, amazing what can be done with statistics


SJ

[Korkenzieher]

(2009) 227664 -> (2010) 46201

Surely the biggest part of the story here is a huge (near 80%) collapse in foreign tourists checking in? Looking at Thai arrivals (dropped about 10%) as a pure percentage is skewing the data out of all common sense simply because of the scale of the collapse of international arrivals. It is a false story, being given window dressing to make it appear as though there is a switch to domestic tourism, and that is transparently false in the numbers.

What TAT are saying here is, in effect, that as far as foreign arrivals are concerned, we are dead in the water, so we have to try to force an increase in internal tourism and spend to stave off the inevitable disaster.

[Super Joe]

(2009) 227664 -> (2010) 46201

Surely the biggest part of the story here is a huge (near 80%) collapse in foreign tourists checking in? Looking at Thai arrivals (dropped about 10%) as a pure percentage is skewing the data out of all common sense simply because of the scale of the collapse of international arrivals. It is a false story, being given window dressing to make it appear as though there is a switch to domestic tourism, and that is transparently false in the numbers.

What TAT are saying here is, in effect, that as far as foreign arrivals are concerned, we are dead in the water, so we have to try to force an increase in internal tourism and spend to stave off the inevitable disaster.

That was Cha Am m8, here's Hua Hin's...

Capture-1.jpg (31.3 KiB) Viewed 1955 times

International visitor numbers to Thailand as a whole, were reported 12% higher in 2010 on 2009. This year's increase surpasses that % by a fair bit based on Q1-3 totals. 2010's international visitor tally was surpassed by the 1st week of October or summit. Irrespective of whatever massaging of figures is done, it seems considerably busier this year than the previous few imo.


SJ

[Korkenzieher]

Ah. OK. Thrown by the message / thread title which refers to Hua Hin...
Still find it a bit of a push to believe that ChaAm has an 80% drop though, and Hua Hin a 3% increase.

[Khundon1975]

When we had the coffee shop on Naebkehart beach side, the customer split in 2000 was around 50% Thai - 50% European, that has slowly changed and now, speaking to the wife's family a week or so ago, the split now is approx 5% foreign - 95% Thai and also the numbers of customers has increased hugely over the last 5 years, not only at the weekends but all through the week. Mainly the Bangkok crowd, who don't seem to mind spending money.

Mags your point about Thais not selling any of those properties is very true, the wifes family have been trying to buy a certain compound on the beach side of Naebkehart for at least 10 years to use as a holiday home but the owners won't accept any offers, despite the fact they do not use the house!
Maybe it is because a couple of the compounds in that road are owned by, shall we call them, people in high places (we often saw official limos with police escorts going in and out) and the other owners want to be able to own property nearby, so won't sell for love nor money.
Even the houses that have been let go to rack and ruin don't ever seem to come on the market.

[dtaai-maai]

^^On the other hand, if land/property prices are still increasing steadily, why sell a good investment when you don't need the cash?

[hhfarang]

They'll sell if you offer enough. Everyone and everything has a price!

[margaretcarnes]

When we had the coffee shop on Naebkehart beach side, the customer split in 2000 was around 50% Thai - 50% European, that has slowly changed and now, speaking to the wife's family a week or so ago, the split now is approx 5% foreign - 95% Thai and also the numbers of customers has increased hugely over the last 5 years, not only at the weekends but all through the week. Mainly the Bangkok crowd, who don't seem to mind spending money.

Mags your point about Thais not selling any of those properties is very true, the wifes family have been trying to buy a certain compound on the beach side of Naebkehart for at least 10 years to use as a holiday home but the owners won't accept any offers, despite the fact they do not use the house!
Maybe it is because a couple of the compounds in that road are owned by, shall we call them, people in high places (we often saw official limos with police escorts going in and out) and the other owners want to be able to own property nearby, so won't sell for love nor money.
Even the houses that have been let go to rack and ruin don't ever seem to come on the market.

Yes I think most of those properties will be owned by families who are certainly in 'high places' and simply don't need the cash from sales either. The status of owning down there is enough in itself, and any income from sale would be small change. It is a shame that some of the places are going to seed - but I'd rather see that to be honest than more new hotels!
My old HH landlady built the HuaHin Place on Naeb almost as a hobby, and for friends to visit from Bangkok. Last month she whizzed me further down the road for afternoon tea at a beautiful old house which is now a small restaurant (can't remember the name and it just looks like another residence from the road) but the place was clearly used mostly by Thais. As far as I'm concerned long may it stay that way!

[richard]

Here here Mags

I used to rent down there and all wonderfully Thai. Sometimes I wish I was still down there especially as the CC during this time of year is swamped with Scandinavians, Germans, Finnish and now Russians. Love em all but prefer Thai neighbours

[hhfarang]

There are some cheap buys in Bangkok now. We had a family this week offer us 2m baht over our asking price for our house because their 22m baht home was flooded 2.5 meters deep inside and they don't want to move back into it (they told me horror stories about what's in the water and why certain areas were left to flood). Anyway, though their offer was excellent overall they had to pay on time until they sell one of their other properties.

I spent half of two days with these people and got an impression that the flood was much worse (and much more political) than I ever realized; and avoidable in most of these Bangkok areas.

[Khundon1975]

They'll sell if you offer enough. Everyone and everything has a price!

HHThat may be true in most cases, but not, it seems, where those beach front properties are concerned, even when they are offered way above the market value. Believe me I know from personal experience.

Mags Was that tea house the one next to the Yu Yen restaurant and owned by the same people, or maybe it was our old place Baan Khrai Wang which is a couple hundred meters further north on Naebkehardt.
When my wife and I moved into the compound in 1999 it was all owned by a Chinese/Thai couple and there was a noodle shop in the driveway, they were moved across the road to that large open noodle shop, which is still there but I believe under new ownership. When they were gone the whole compound was given a complete makeover and now looks fantastic. Much better for residents and visitors, as the old place was a real mess.

We never altered the old sea front Thai Villa, the coffee shop was mainly under the old house and in the garden but the back half of the house, which we did not use (the house was actually 2, 4 bedroom houses joined by a 1st floor balcony) was taken down and a modern 4 bed house built in it's place and which is now used to do the baking etc for the coffee shop and to house staff etc.
Maybe the reason that many of those compounds remain in a mess is that there are severe restrictions on what you can build that close to the Palace, as we discovered when we looked into extending the house into the beach side garden?

[margaretcarnes]

No this place was one of the original buildings KD - past the crossroads. One of those with steps down to moorings.