Hotel & Tours Group

More than 100 hotels and resorts nationwide are being put up for sale, as operators succumb to the impacts of the economic crisis and political unrest, industry insiders said.

The number is expected to rise if the situation does not improve within two years, said Chanin Donavanik, chief executive officer of one of Thailand's largest hotel chain operators, Dusit International.

As if the worsening global economy and domestic political unrest weren't enough, Thailand's hotel and tourism industry now faces the threat of swine flu.

A property sales representative in Samui, who declined to be named, said most of the hotels being sold are in the major centres and provinces of Bangkok, Phuket, Koh Samui, Hua Hin, Pattaya and Chiang Mai.

Hotels in famous destinations such as Samui and Phuket have been the first to feel the pinch of the economic and political problems, as their local economies mainly rely on tourists, whose numbers have declined continuously since November's temporary seizure of Suvarnabhumi and Don Muang airports by opponents to the then government.

Phuket's visitor numbers declined by 60 per cent in the high season from November to March.

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