Bill Barnett of C9 Hotelworks will be speaking at the upcoming Real Estate Asia Outlook event in Singapore next week.
The event which will be held on March 12th and 13th at the Four Seasons will showcase the property and tourism sectors in Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia.
Barnett will focus on the subject of Beyond Bali, Indonesia's real estate market trends, Including the shift in resort and property development outside of Bali including Lombok, Gilis Sumba and Flores. Growth in hotel branded residences and mixed use projects. Soaring land prices which are changing developer's business models.
For details <link>http://www.claridenglobal.com/realestateasia2014/ *CLICK</link>
As Phuket's CBD slowly shifts toward Central Festival and Kathu a new real estate offering is targeting an urban trend.
Island developers The Onella Company recently launched the new residential twinged Prive 49.
In what is being hailed as a low-density project, units start at 33 square meters and are priced from THB2.2 million.
There are only 49 units in the development, hence the name.
Project completion is scheduled for 2015.
With one of the broadest offerings in the market including leading destinations such as Phuket, Bali and emerging hot spots like Sri Lanka the new look is set to impress.
A key emphasis of the site is a special wedding feature which is a segment that is continuing to see growth.
Want to know more? <link>http://www.elitehavens.com*CLICK</link>
Malaysia is continuing to see a surge of massive tourism related projects which is now seeing the development of a new international theme park, cruise ship terminal and luxury hotel in Malacca.
Coined as the Melaka Gateway the development has been quoted in the media as costing USD12 billion and is being driven by the KAJ Group.
A key feature is an 80-storey skyscraper tagged the Gateway Beacon Tower will included residential and hospitality components.
While an over-sized ferris wheel is aimed at similar facilities in Singapore and London.
In yesterday's Bangkok Post, one of Thailand's most prolific tourism advocates William Heinecke of the Minor hotel Group, wrote an open letter to ambassadors in Bangkok denouncing the existing policy of issuing travel warning to the Kingdom of Thailand.
An of the most glaring instances of the absurdity of the current feeding frenzy over the issue is the SAR (Hong Kong)'s current status of a black threat which recommends that all residents avoid all travel to Thailand, though in some notices Bangkok is included later in parenthesis.
Strangely enough the other notable countries on the black list are Syria and Egypt, though not included are such epicenters of violence as Yemen, South Sudan, Ukraine and Somalia. Apparently Bangkok is more dangerous than of these other seemingly sunny environs.
We salute Mr. Heinecke's stance on giving Thai Tourism and voice and are reprinting his letter to the Bangkok Post –
"As CEO of one of the largest companies in Thailand and more so as a concerned citizen, I feel it is my duty to speak up on behalf of our 40,000 employees and those whose livelihoods depend directly indirectly on tourism – one of the vital drivers of the Thai economy.
Minor International and numerous other operators in the tourism sector have, over many years, laid the foundations for what is considered the best tourism infrastructure in Asia which provides livelihoods…
Although the ongoing demonstrations are limited to certain parts of Bangkok, the rest of the city and the overall country for that matter is safe to visit.
However, the travel warnings and restrictions issued by some foreign governments incorrectly dispel this fact.
Tourists have never been a target in the protests and to this end all airports in Thailand remain fully operational and hotels and tourist attractions across the Kingdom continue to welcome guests as usual.
The people of Thailand are extremely welcoming of tourists and I am certain that visitors are in far more danger of being harmed in any major European or American city than they are here in Bangkok.
These unnecessarily severe travel advisories are now having a major impact on the livelihoods of Thai people across the country.
Thailand's caretaker Minister of Tourism and Sports Somsak Phurisisak reported that tourism arrivals in January dropped by one million from the same time last year. The Tourism Council of Thailand quantified the revenue loss as 22.5 billion baht. This impact will not only be felt in the tourism sector, but also indirectly in all fields from manufacturing to farming.
Thailand remains one of the most popular and desired destinations on the planet. I know that tourists still want to travel here – I can see it in the reservation inquiries that our hotels receive every day. But people are naturally hesitant when their home country issues travel restrictions or country warnings.
Travel advisories play an important role in our overall safety and security, but they can also have an unnecessarily negative impact on the livelihood of others when they are not completely based on reality. Foreign governments' travel warnings and restrictions on their nationals to visit Thailand are not based on the full reality of the situation for visitors to the Kingdom.
If there were demonstrations in Washington or Paris, would tourists be advised not to visit the entire country? Would travel warnings ever be issued? I ask the members of the diplomatic community who are based in Thailand and staff from the Ministry for Tourism and Sports who have first-hand experience of the non-impact of Thailand's political woes on foreign tourists, to support the cause to have foreign governments re-examine the severity of their travel restrictions and to revise their travel advisories to focus only on the very limited pockets of Bangkok that are affected.
I have the utmost respect for the members of the diplomatic community who play a very important role in representing their nation's interests across the globe.
Yet it is upsetting to see travel warnings such as the "black/severe threat for Thailand (Bangkok)" from the government of Hong Kong. Specifically, nationals are "urged to avoid all travel to Bangkok", which I feel is severe and should only refer to specific areas of the capital.
In the same vein, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the nations who have not issued, or only issued limited travel warnings – your support is greatly appreciated.
I would also ask that you and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports join with me in lobbying with some of our friends in the media to honour a code of ethics and provide a fair and factual overview of the political challenges that we face.
Dramatising and focusing on sensationalist headlines and scenes is not a balanced view of the protests that we face in Bangkok.
Such reporting serves only to further fuel the fire of unnecessary scare tactics and fear-mongering. Bangkok is open for business and visitors are warmly welcomed across the capital.
Thailand is one of the most welcoming countries in the world and I hope that together we can continue to support this beautiful destination and its people."
William E Heinecke is Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Minor International.
It's often too easy to sit in South East Asia and loose sight that global property investors have other booming resort objects of desire.
One market that I seem to be bumping into on a regular basis is Panama in Central America.
One key catalyst of growth is increased airlift with the redevelopment of a former US airbase into an international gateway at Rio Hata.
For foreign property buyers with a large focus on American's, retirement visas are increasingly popular as are discounts for older residents.
In case you are thinking of packing your bags and heading to Panama, prices are similar to those in Thailand for resort grade residences.
Over the past year I have often marveled when reading a number of web-based news sites, which purportedly focus on the advantages and international living.
In many instances the prices quotes on property and cost of living are wildly under-estimated and downright wrong. For those who perhaps want a reality check, just go to one of the sites and click on to the Phuket section and see if the numbers stack up.
Like it or not the world is becoming a much more expensive place to live, no matter how far you go escape.
While Thailand's election woes continue to make worldwide news, the Year of the Horse will see five significant electoral processes in action.
These are Indonesia, India, Brazil, South Africa and Turkey.
What's interesting is that all of these countries are in the midst of economic growth and it will be interesting to see how politics and money match up.
Closer to home, South East Asia's biggest economic engine Indonesia is keenly on the regions radar given it's relatively volatile risk profile.
In the north of Thailand a Singapore fund Terrasia is partnering with Thai firm Srangdee Development for a villa project in Chiang Mai.
The THB200 million project will see individual villas priced at THB10 million.
According to the report authored by Andrew Batt the private fund is composed in individual Singapore investors.
Chiang Mai is seeing an uplift in their property market given the sharp rise in tourism and direct air access.
Leading island property agency Siam Real Estate has opened a new branch in Cherngtalay.
Located at Boat Avenue near to Laguna, Dolan Corlay will head the operation.
Siam's main office in Rawai remains focused on the southern and central sectors of the isand.
As traffic and urban sprawl hit the Phuket the business sector is seeing greater divesity in locations aimed at micro markets.
