The general manager of Pattaya’s Long Beach Garden Resort & Spa was re-elected to head the Thai Hotels Association Eastern Chapter.
Sanphet Suphabuansathien, first elected in 2014, will serve another two-year term after being nominated by Chatchawal Supachayanont, honorary consul of the Swedish embassy and GM of Dusit Thani Hotel.
Rungthip Sooksrikarn and Phisut Sae-Khu were elected vice presidents at the association’s annual general meeting March 14 at the Dusit Thani.
Serving on the election panel were Peter Malhotra, MD of Pattaya Mail Media Group, Rattanachai Sutidechanai, Chairman of the Pattaya City Tourism and Sports Committee, Sinchai Wattanasartsathorn, president of the Pattaya Business and Tourism Association (PBTA), and Sumali Assawijitkul, Head of the Tourism Department of the Chonburi Provincial Administration Organization.
Following the vote, Sanphet reviewed the tourism situation for the Pattaya area, saying the top nationality visiting the Eastern Seaboard was the Chinese, followed by Malaysians and Russians.
More than 7.9 million Chinese visitors arrived in Thailand in 2015, he said, with 3.4 million Malaysians and 884,085 Russians, down by half from two years earlier.
Japan, South Korea and Laos all totaled between 1.2 and 1.4 million each. Britons visiting Thailand stood at 946,919, with North American visitors totaling 847,520. Australia came in at 805,946 and Germany at 760,604.
Pattaya’s 2015 occupancy rate was 53.9 percent, up four percentage points from 2014, but down 12 points from two years earlier. Bangkok rebounded from a 60 percent occupancy rate in 2014 and 73.1 percent in 2013 to 75.6 percent.
Pattaya’s loss has been Chiang Mai’s gain, with the northern city’s hotels soaring to 79.9 percent booked in 2014, up 17 percentage points from 2014 and a whopping 21 points since 2013.
Phuket held steady from 2014’s 68.3 percent, posting an occupancy rate of 69.4 percent last year. Koh Samui was up six points to 72.5 percent.
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