Thailand saw plenty of hotel investment activity in 2016 with more than 10 hotels and hospitality assets sold in Bangkok and major provincial destinations, reports JLL who helped broker 5 of these sales. And while activity was robust, investment volume fell 15 per cent from 2015 to THB 9.6 billion.
The lack of large assets available on the market was the reason behind the dip in volume, but JLL predicts that there will be a big jump in investment volume in 2017 with the THB-10.8 billion sale of Swissotel Nai Lert Park already scheduled for conclusion this year.
“Investment appetite by both local and foreign investors in Thailand’s hospitality market has showed no signs of subsiding as these investors have remained upbeat on long-term fundamentals in this ever-resilient market,” says Mike Batchelor, Managing Director of Investment Sales Asia, JLL’s Hotels and Hospitality Group.
Bangkok accounted for nearly half of all hospitality transactions in 2016 with a number of key sales completed in the capital. Prominent deals last year included the sales of Eight Thonglor, Liberty Garden Hotel and Park 24 Condominium in Sukhumvit. The latter property will be rebranded and managed as serviced apartments by Ascott.
The remaining transactions took place across major tourism destinations in the country including Pattaya, Phuket, Phang Nga, Koh Samui, Hua Hin and Chiang Rai. Thai investors were responsible for a majority of the deals but some institutional investors from Hong Kong and Singapore were also entered Thailand’s hospitality segment in 2016.
“Interest from both domestic and regional investors were strong in 2016, a trend that is expected to continue into 2017,” says Batchelor. “More Asian corporates are looking to place large capital reserves into alternative investment classes in some of Thailand’s real estate sectors that enjoy healthy trading performance and returns. Buoyed by strong long-term growth prospects for the country’s tourism industry, some of these corporates have showed keen interest in the hospitality sector, as evidenced from strong levels of bids for some of sought-after hotel assets currently offered for sale in Thailand.”
Receive free latest property news on email from Thailand’s No.1 property website here, or read more project reviews
