The development of serviced apartments on Beach Resorts : a study of Patong Beach, Phuket.

• Main Authors: Goh, Qian Yi., Lui, Wen Qing., Sim, Pei Wen.
• Other Authors: Russell Arthur Smith
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: DRNTU::Business::Industries and labor
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/15120
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Robust growth for travel and tourism in the Asia Pacific region is expected, with tourism revenues to hit US$4.6 trillion and visitor arrivals to reach 500 million by the end of 2010 (PATA, 2008a). In particular, demand for beach holidays is strong, with Phuket registering a record 5.47 million arrivals in 2007 (SCI-Asset, 2008) and Bali attracting 1.97 million visitors in 2008 (BTB, 2009). This increase in tourist arrivals impacts the size and structure of the tourist accommodation sector. Accommodation rooms in Asia are set to grow 25.8% with an expected 140,000 new rooms (LaSalle, 2008), while serviced apartments are forecasted to proliferate (TAS, 2009). This paper aims to study the development of serviced apartments on beach resorts, in particular, Patong Beach, Phuket. The case method was adopted for this study, with a visit to Patong Beach in December 2008 and interviews with accommodation operators, guests and Thai government officials. The level of development of the site was determined, followed by an analysis of the serviced apartments by size of establishments, average daily rates and type of ownership. Some of the key findings include the establishment of the level of development of Patong Beach as Stage 6 of Smith’s Beach Resort Model (Smith, 1991). Spatial analysis of the serviced apartments revealed concentration on the northern front and inland, with smaller and low-grade establishments found mostly inland. Ownership structures varied, including both single and multiple ownership, though there was no international brand present in Phuket. Finally, it has been found that serviced apartments on beach resorts emerge only at advanced stages of resort development.