Hong Kong leads Asia Pacific for hotel deals in first nine months of 2017 and Thailand ranks third after Japan

Hong Kong led Asia Pacific by volume of hotel investment transactions, with 11 deals worth a total of nearly US$1.5 billion in the year to September, according to the latest figures released by JLL. Japan and Thailand saw the second and third highest levels of activity across the region at US$1.2 billion and US$335 million in transaction volumes respectively.

Of the Hong Kong deals, several transactions have potential for conversion into residential or office space. Recently, hotel owners have been considering converting their assets given the strong demand for office space.

“For investors, Hong Kong hotels are appealing because of the discounted rate per square foot when compared to other asset classes, something that has been a factor in some recent transactions. Hotels such as J Plus Hotel has already been purchased for conversation, likely into an office,” says Mike Batchelor, Head of Investment Sales Asia, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group.

Thailand has experienced another active year recording US$335 million in hotel transactions, led by the capital, Bangkok.

This is the highest total volume recorded since 2014. JLL acted as sole advisor on several hotel deals this year including the Premier Inn portfolio and Sukhumvit S27, selling for a combined US$111.5 million. Interest in Thailand is being buoyed along by the continuing stable political environment and relative affordability of hotels compared to a number of other Asian countries.

Domestic investors most active in Japan

Japan has remained a stellar performer in terms of hotel investment since 2013, with transaction volumes reaching more than US$1.2 billion as of September 2017. The lead up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will continue to boost tourism, with the government aiming to double the number of foreign visitors to 40 million by 2020.

“Domestic investors are traditionally the most active buyers in Japan’s hotel market,” explains Mr Batchelor.

“However, we are now witnessing international investors becoming increasingly active in Japan, as market fundamentals continue to improve and it remains one of the most attractive debt markets in the region. We expect a solid last quarter of 2017 in terms of investment activity.”

Regional picture

Australia remains a firm favourite for hotel investors globally, particularly for Chinese investors, due to its strong inbound tourism growth. Investment volumes were close to US$110 million as of September 2017. “Mainland Chinese buyers have purchased around US$1.4 billion of Australian hotels since 2015 but given the recent curbs on outbound capital by the Chinese government,…

Source link : Thailand sees 3rd highest hotel investment in Asia Pacific by Boris Sullivan

Thailand’s ranking on World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2018 moved up to 26th from the 46th last year from 190 countries worldwide.

Thailand now stands third in Asean in terms of Ease of Doing Business, behind Singapore, which remains second, and Malaysia, which moves down one notch overall to 24th globally.

Other Asean members’ performances in the 2018 report:  Brunei ranks 56th (up 16); Cambodia 135th (down 4); Indonesia 72nd (up 19); Laos 141st (down 2); Myanmar 171st (down 14); Philippines 113th (down 14) and Vietnam 68th (up 14).

According to World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2018, Thailand made significant improvement in six areas, including starting a new business, getting electricity, getting credit, protection of minorinvestors, tax payment and enforcing contracts.

Thailand among the top 10 improvers

By region, economies in East Asia and the Pacific implemented 45 reforms in the past year. The region is home to two of the world’s top 10 ranked economies, Singapore and Hong Kong SAR, China, and two of this year’s top 10 improvers, Brunei Darussalam and Thailand. In the past 15 years, the region has implemented 371 reforms. As a result, the time needed to start a new business has been more than halved to 24 days now, from 50 days in 2003.

Ms. Duangjai Asawachintachit, Secretary General of the Board of Investment welcomed this report.

“Thailand has implemented many measures and projects to improve business environment, including amendment of related laws and introduction of e-Services. This latest survey results have clearly reflected Thailand’s continuous efforts in making Thailand one of the most preferred destination in Asia.”

The World Bank said Thailand made impressive strides, having adopted a record eight reforms in the past year.

“Thailand has made immense progress in doing business reforms this past year, with strong government leadership at the highest levels,” said Ulrich Zachau, World Bank Director for Thailand, Malaysia and Regional Partnerships.

“With its 26th place ranking, Thailand has risen into the top 15 percent of countries globally in the ease of doing business – a great achievement.  We look forward to continuing our strong partnership with Thailand in support of a strong business environment, and more good jobs for more people all across the country,” he said.

“Several recent major improvements in the ease of doing business stand out. Starting a business in Thailand used to take 27.5 days. Today, thanks to a series of business regulation reforms, the process takes only 4.5 days,” the World Bank report said.

Source link : Thailand moves up to 26th rank on World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business 2018 by Olivier Languepin

The Middle Kingdom has lots of room to grow if it could sort out economic distortions and optimise capital allocation. The tweaking of the one-child policy might also help

In a presentation at the recent Ho Bee Professorship in Chinese Economy and Business lecture titled “China’s Paradox and its role in the global economy”, Dr. Jin Keyu of the London School of Economics posited that China’s various economic issues – excess savings and capacity, high leverage and debt, low consumption etc. – should not be treated as disparate issues but instead as developments interlinked by “a common thread and reflect common roots”.

Jin referred to a ‘vicious circle’ that contained four elements that reinforce one another:

• Financial repression + wage suppression;
• Suppression of households and households’ share of GDP;
• Subsidising firms; and
• Low consumption, high investment and exports

“Over 2000 to 2014,” Jin explains, “real GDP grew by over three times in China. If you’re a saver in China, and you held bank deposits, you would have lost about 21 percent. If you held stocks over that period, you would have lost 38 percent. No matter how you saved, you’d have lost money.”

To put it in economic terms, Chinese see children as investment goods. I raise them, I invest in their education, and they get better jobs and higher wages, and they pay back on that investment. It’s like an investment portfolio.

There are many reasons for the stock market’s underperformance. The Shenzhen and Shanghai Stock Exchanges were created at the end of 1990 with the initial purpose of helping State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) privatise. Listing criteria were not as stringent as those in developed economies, and Jin wrote that firms with “connections to regulators are more likely to be listed”.

Additionally, bad firms do not delist as soon or as frequent as they should. According to Jin, only about one percent delist every year compared to 10-20 percent on average in other countries, with poor performing firms lingering on the exchanges and contributing to poor stock performance.

Making matters worse are distortionary government policies that “subsidise corporates and exports, because that was the national economic strategy.

The end result was a suppression of households as reflected by the declining household share” of GDP, which dropped to about 60 percent in the late 2000’s from 70 percent in 1990 despite China’s breakneck economic growth during the same period.

“On top of that, subsidies to the firms mean that there’s going to be low consumption and high investment and high exports,” Jin explains, rounding out the vicious circle. “So what do you do to keep high GDP targets…

Source link : China’s growth story: Plenty to come with the end of one-child policy by Zhang Fang

The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) has launched today new city tourism impact data which shows that the world’s top ten fastest growing tourism cities are all in Asia.

Asia Pacific City Travel & Tourism Impact, is one of a series of reports by WTTC which looks at the contribution of Travel & Tourism to city economies and job creation. The study covers 65 cities, 21 of which are in Asia Pacific.

The data shows that Asian cities are at the forefront of tourism growth over the next ten years.

Chongqing (14% growth per year) heads the table, followed by Guanghzhou (13.1%), Shanghai (12.8%) and Beijing (12%). The other cities on the top ten list are Chengdu (11.2%), Manila (10.9%), Delhi (10.8%), Shenzhen (10.7%), Kuala Lumpur (10.1%) and Jakarta (10%).

With the world average growth rate at 4% per year, and Asia Pacific at 5.8%, these cities are significantly outpacing both the regional and global average.

Asia Pacific also includes some of the world’s largest Travel & Tourism cities. Shanghai, with an annual tourism GDP contribution of US$30 billion is the largest in the world; followed by Beijing (US$27 billion). Tokyo (US$20 billion) is ranked 6th in the world.

Shanghai and Beijing together account for 21% of China’s Travel & Tourism economic impact (GDP), whereas Tokyo alone accounts for 18% of Japan’s total.

The dominance of the Chinese market is clear, both in terms of future growth and overall size and as a main source market for destinations in the wider Asia Pacific region.

The success of Chinese cities is largely driven by domestic business (as high as 94.5% of spend in Chongqing is domestic), and the Chinese outbound market is key for neighbouring cities such as Tokyo (11% of spend is Chinese, the largest market) and Bangkok (38%).

Gloria Guevara, President & CEO, WTTC said “The power of Asian cities when it comes to driving the Travel & Tourism sector is clear to see in this new data. However, not only do these cities contribute significantly to their country’s tourism sector, tourism is an important generator of economic growth and jobs within the cities themselves.

With this level of forecast growth, the importance of investment in long term planning, infrastructure and sustainable public policies cannot be underestimated. It is vital that city authorities understand the economic impact of Travel & Tourism, GDP and employment contribution, and not just visitor arrivals, as they seek to develop new products and opportunities to increase traveller spend and sustainable growth. WTTC has invested in this new research and data to support them in this ambition.”

Other highlights from the report include:

• Singapore’s Travel & Tourism has doubled in the past ten years,…

Source link : World’s top ten fastest growing tourism cities are all in Asia by Daniel Lorenzzo

Thailand’s biggest coal miner and exporter Banpu Pcl is acquiring a US shale gas portfolio worth $210 million, its fifth such overseas investment play.

Banpu signed a purchase and sale agreement to acquire an operatorship position and gas portfolio in the Northeast Marcellus shale gas play of Pennsylvania.

This agreement represents Banpu’s fifth investment in the US shale gas business in line with its expansion strategy to acquire interests in cash-generating assets, according to its filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Monday.

Banpu’s chief executive Somruedee Chaimongkol said, this acquisition provides Banpu nearly 80 per cent of working interest in 112 wells with the net production interest of 100 million cubic feet per day.

The shale gas resource has proven reserves of 414 billion cubic feet over 32,350 acres, which will bolster Banpu’s position as a major player in the Marcellus shale area.

Previously, Banpu acquired a 29.4-per-cent stake in the Chaffee Corners Joint Exploration Agreement (JEA) in April last year.  Its net interest in the Chaffee Corners JEA is equivalent to proven reserves of 156 billion cubic feet of dry natural gas.

The CEO told local media that its gas sale volumes was around 21 million cubic feet per day last year and most of them served the US domestic demand.

Banpu is aggressively diversifying its business into upstream and clean energy businesses. Last month, it announced the investment of S$75 million ($55.6 million) in Singaporean photovoltaic (PV) firm Sunreap, backed by Goldman Sachs. It targets to build 300 MW of PV capacity over the next five years.

Coal miner Banpu takes stake in Singapore green energy firm

Earlier in September this year, Thai coal miner Banpu PCL bought a 25.7% stake in Singaporean green energy firm, Sunseap Group Pte Ltd for $55.7 million.

Banpu is making the investment through its subsidiary, Banpu Infinergy Company Limited (BPIN). The purchase of the stake will increase BPIN’s generating capacity to 47 megawatts (MW) of signed projects, a step toward its five-year goal of 300 MW, according to the statement.

Sunseap has an operating capacity of 93.3 MW of solar power that is set to increase to approximately 182.9 MW through secured projects.

Banpu is “responding to business needs and encouraging the switch to clean energy in Thailand”, said Somruedee Chaimongkol, the company’s chief executive in the statement.

Sunseap’s customers in Singapore include public sector agencies and companies such as Apple, the Housing Development Board, and Jurong Port.

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Source link : Thailand’s biggest coal miner Banpu acquires fifth US shale gas asset for $210m by Deal Street Asia

The Royal Cremation Ceremony for the late King Bhumibol Adulyadej is scheduled for 25-29 October, 2017. Thursday, 26 October, will be the Royal Cremation Day, and it has been declared a public holiday in Thailand by the Royal Thai Government to allow the people to take part in paying a final tribute to the late King.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) would like to provide the following recommendations to visitors to Thailand during this historic period.

The world is welcome to visit Thailand during this historic period. Visitors to the kingdom at this time will get to see the great love and reverence that the Thai people have for their beloved King in the way they mourn and pay their tribute.

During this time, Thailand is thankful for our friends coming to share their sadness and pass on their condolences. This gesture of empathy and friendship will be remembered by the people of Thailand for decades to come.

In this time of great sadness and mourning, we would like to ask that everyone uses their judgment regarding how or should they make arrangements for events planned in Thailand. Also, we would like to ask visitors for their understanding that this is a sensitive time for Thailand, and they should respect the feelings and sensitivities of the Thai people.

Many Thai people will be wearing black clothes as a sign of mourning. This is not required of visitors but if possible, they should wear respectful clothing when in public.

We also would like to request that the solemnity of the Royal Cremation is observed, and visitors should refrain from conducting any inappropriate or disrespectful behaviour.

The world is welcome to Thailand during this historic period. Visitors to the kingdom at this time will get to see the great love and reverence that the Thai people have for their beloved King in the way they mourn and pay their respects.

And during this time, Thailand is thankful for our friends coming to share their sadness and pass on their condolences. This gesture of empathy and friendship will be remembered by the people of Thailand for decades to come.

Tourist attractions and public places should all be open as usual, with the exception of:
Bangkok’s Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha will be closed from 1-29 October, 2017.

The Arts of the Kingdom Museum has been closed from 1 October, 2017, for renovations to the Ananda Samakhom Throne Hall of Dusit Palace in Bangkok. The Arts of the Kingdom exhibition will be moved for temporary display from February 2018 to the SUPPORT Centre at Ko Kerd,…

Source link : Travel advisory and Recommendations regarding the Royal Cremation in Thailand by Daniel Lorenzzo

For many years, Thailand has earned notoriety in the area of road fatalities. High death tolls, mostly resulting from reckless driving, have prompted the state and its partners to invest enormously in road safety campaigns, with less-than-impressive results, however.

The World Health Organisation in its Global Road Safety Report in 2015 ranked Thailand as having the second most deadly roads in the world. To put this into perspective, for every 100,000 people in Thailand, about 36 die in road crashes a year.

Road fatalities soar during the festive seasons, the New Year and Songkran traditional New Year, when many Thais travel upcountry.

Despite intensive road safety campaigns, this year’s death tolls were still high, 478 during New Year, compared to 390 during Songkran. The number of road crashes was nearly 4,000 in both festivals.

Road crashes not only affect accident victims, but they also contribute to immeasurable losses for the Thai economy.

Traffic accidents result in productivity loss for the victims and their families

On top of that, they also incur other indirect costs such as administrative expenses, public property damage, traffic congestion, and so on.

Thailand’s integrated traffic accident statistics, in accordance with databases developed during 2011-2013 by the Ministry of Public Health, the Royal Thai Police, and Road Accident Victims Protection Company, show that about 22,000 people die on Thai roads every year, while the traffic-related severe injuries toll is 108,000 a year. These numbers unequivocally add up to over half a trillion baht of economic loss.

The Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI) conducted research on road safety, focusing on the losses from traffic deaths and injuries, in Saraburi from May last year to this month. We employed the “Willingness to Pay” approach in the research, “Road Safety Measure Assessment Project: The case of Tha Luang and Kaeng Koi”.

More specifically, the research team surveyed how much locals were willing to pay to reduce road casualties in the areas and used the answers to calculate the value of lives.

According to the study, the value of deaths and severe injuries equalled 10 million baht and 3 million baht, respectively.

The research team uses these numbers to estimate a total economic loss for the whole country since Saraburi can represent the country’s semi-urban areas.

The research team found that Thailand wasted approximately 545 billion baht a year during 2011-2013, accounting for 6% of the country’s annual GDP.

Interestingly, the team further found that despite the high risk of traffic fatalities, many Thais attach little importance to road casualties.

The research mentioned above shows that 27% of the…

Source link : Road casualties are wasting 6% of Thailand’s GDP by Headline Editor

All markets showed strong growth, said TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn. In the first half of this year, Thailand welcomed 17.3 million tourists, generating Bt876 billion for its economy. TAT targets Thailand to finish 2017 with Bt1.81 trillion in tourism-related gains.

A leading bank research centre, KResearch, has revised its tourism forecast for Thailand upwards to 35.20 million this year, representing a surge of 8.2%.

Earlier in the year, Kasikorn Research Centre forecast international visits would hit 34.15 million with an estimated revenue of THB1.79 trillion. Now the bank’s research centre says revenue could top THB1.81 trillion.

The revision followed the Ministry of Tourism and Sports release of tourism performance data for January to July that showed tourist arrivals topped 20.41 million up 4.5% on year-on-year.

Ministry estimated revenue from tourism, during the seven months, reached THB1.03 trillion up 6.1%.

Thailand expects to enjoy continued growth both in tourist arrivals and tourism revenue this year

Looking at the last quarter, KResearch expects inbound tourism to continue to expand due to various factors including  the country’s “tourism-friendly environment,” and proactive marketing plans of government agencies.

10 million Chinese tourists in 2017 ?

The major driver pushing Thai tourism to new highs is China.

The research centre noted that  tensions between China and South Korea were favouring tour movements to Thailand as Chinese tourists were reluctant to book holidays in South Korea.

Even concerns over the appreciation of the Thai baht against major currencies such as the Euro and US dollar are not expected to slow tourism to Thailand.

This is probably because the bulk of tourists visiting Thailand are from Asian nations where currencies are also appreciating at a similar pace to the Thai Baht.

China continues to dominate Thailand’s inbound tourist arrivals with August ending up with 3,133,411 visits, up 8.6% year-on-year. August was the fourth month, this year, that saw arrivals exceed 3 million, the second highest after January when visits reached 3,197,053.

Other peak travel months when visits exceeded 3 million were March and July.

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So where did tourists come from in August?

• China,…

Source link : China is pushing Thai tourism towards new records for 2017 by Bandid Nijathaworn