Thailand's strong tourism recovery had a positive impact on housing demand and property renovation at major tourist destinations in the first quarter of 2023, according to home and construction material distributors and residential developers.
Weerapun Ungsumalee, managing director of Home Product Center Plc, the operator of home decoration and improvement store HomePro, said the company's revenue growth in the first quarter was driven by the recovery of the tourism industry.
"The recovery of the tourism industry led to an increase in spending on property renovation and improvement in tourist destinations, resulting in significantly higher growth compared to other provinces," he said.
Another driver of spending in the first quarter was the "Shop Dee Mee Khuen" tax incentive, which encouraged shopping by offering a payback scheme.
This incentive had a positive impact on the company's sales, both at physical branches and through online channels, said Mr Weerapun.
The company said on Wednesday revenue increased by 9.5% to 18.3 billion baht in the first quarter of 2023, with a net profit of 1.6 billion baht, representing a growth of 6.6%.
Rental revenue increased by 16% to 477 million baht, driven by higher rental revenue in branches located in major tourist destinations, especially in the southern region.
Another key driver was the opening of three new branches of construction material department store Mega Home in Rattanathibet and Tiwanon in Nonthaburi and Bang Phli in Samut Prakan.
Pringprai Nitayanont, deputy chief executive of Karat Enterprise (Thailand), said demand for the company's products was very strong in Phuket and Pattaya during the first quarter of this year.
"Our customers in Phuket and Pattaya were mainly focused on projects, particularly high-end hotels and resorts that cater to foreign tourists," she said. "They were not just to renovate existing properties but also develop new ones to serve a robust tourism market."
Tritecha Tangmatitham, managing director of residential developer Supalai Plc, said the company's presales of 9 billion baht in the first quarter of 2023 were mainly boosted by the provinces.
"Residential demand in the provinces has continued to rise, mainly attributed to the return of foreign tourists," he said.
"The top provinces where we recorded good sales in the first quarter were Phuket, Chon Buri, Songkhla and Rayong."
Nearly half of the total presales, or 4.36 billion baht, was from the provinces, comprising 4.05 billion baht from low-rise houses, which grew by 17%, and 316 million baht from condos, which soared by 108%.
Supalai's presales in the first quarter of 2023 rose 22% from the fourth quarter of 2022, and 2% from the same period of last year.
The firm aims to achieve 36 billion baht in presales by the end of the year, up 11% from 32.4 billion baht in 2022.
