Home.co.uk
Home.co.uk

News: Travellers flock to Thailand villas

Fri, 08 Jun 07

For the world’s discerning travellers, nothing carries quite the same prestige as spending a holiday in a luxurious private villa somewhere exotic...

And who can blame them? With such added perks as personal chefs, butlers and drivers at your beck and call as you relax by a private infinity pool in your five-bedroom retreat, the 5-star resort down the beach suddenly pales in comparison.

Villa owners in Europe, the Caribbean and the US have been capitalizing on this mindset for decades, but it is a trend that has only really started to catch on in Thailand in recent years, partially because the country’s high-end villa sales market itself is still in its infancy compared to other global resort markets.

Thailand’s villa rental market is for the most part limited to two areas: Koh Samui and Phuket.

Hundreds of travel agencies and rental firms specializing in villas around the world are beginning to take an interest in these two destinations, which has translated into an increase in the number of local firms turning to villa management as a way to offset the recent sales slump that has enveloped the country.

Thailand ‘not a traditional holiday home destination’.

Allan Mossop, Managing Director of Phuket Island Property Services (PIPS), says they’ve definitely seen an upswing in the property rental market in the last year, but it’s been a long time coming.

“The last five years has been a challenge for most folks because Thailand is not a traditional holiday home destination like say the Mediterranean or the Caribbean. But we’ve been making serious inroads. If you go online and look at the international rental sites, the number of properties featured for Thailand has increased dramatically as has the number of inquiries.”

Mossop feels that more people are travelling to Thailand as repeat visitors and are starting to feel more comfortable and don’t’ feel that they have to go stay in a more protected environment of a hotel.

“Holiday rentals are very popular with families, knowing that they’re going to be in a property that’s got a private pool and a kitchen, which means they’re able to take care of their kid’s requirements better. If you’re travelling with your family, it’s a little inconvenient to have the young ones on the fold-out couch.”

Attracting interest ‘half the battle’

But half the battle is attracting interest. According to Mossop, the most important thing for villa owners to consider before putting their property on the rental market is whether their agent able to make their property available to a wide selection of other agents.

“For a long time PIPS was the only company in Phuket actively marketing the full-service rental projects we represent with 50 other agents locally nationally and internationally,” he says.

“A lot of the property management companies or rental management companies are only able to take their straight 10% and they are not able to market a home to other rental companies which is a major factor.”

Indeed villa owners have a lot to consider before renting out their property, and this includes whether or not they’re even in a position to do so. SVH’s Ribail says before they’ll even take a villa into their portfolio they consider several factors. 

Location, location, location

“The first is location. It has to be situated either on the beach or inland with absolutely stunning views. If you look at Phuket, Bali, The Phillippines or Malaysia, there are not as many properties directly on the beach as there are here.

“So the guests want to pay a bit more to be on the beach rather than sitting in the hills. So because of that location is very important for us,” he says.

“We try to keep the level of standards equal among all houses in our portfolio. So even though they’re all individual, if one house doesn’t have a range of amenities or facilities that matches our portfolio we recommend the owners upgrade.”

Source - AsiaProperty-Report.com

Back to: News Index