20,000 new hotel rooms in two years

Wichit na Ranong, honorary adviser to the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), said marketing and sales firms could help operators to become more efficient in marketing, training and networking.

"It is important to identify trends in customers' requirements. Some prefer independent luxury hotels, or the smaller boutique hotels offering a more personalised service, rather than staying in a hotel run by a big chain. So it is essential for small-hotel operators to get the right business focus," Wichit said.

According to the Thai Hotels Association (THA), more than 20,000 new rooms are scheduled to be available across the country in the next two years.

In Bangkok alone, nearly 7,000 additional rooms are set to open by 2010, while Phuket is expected to have more than 8,000 new rooms. The remainder will be in other major tourist destinations around the country.

The THA said that competition would be more intense and operators would have to introduce new strategies to attract more visitors.

The Indigo Pearl Hotel in Phuket, which is owned by Wichit, is one of the latest hotels in Thailand to use WorldHotel, an international marketing and sales firm, to help with general marketing and attracting overseas customers.

Roland Jegge, WorldHotel vice president for the Asia-Pacific, said the group already worked with 80 hotels and resorts in the region and planned to have nine more hotels in the region, including in Thailand, over the next two years.

It is negotiating with hotel operators in Bangkok, Krabi, Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Hua Hin.

The group provides marketing and sales networks for 500 individual hotels in 70 countries.