Asia Plus flags hotel stocks as standout play on IMF-World Bank meeting, picks CENTEL

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Summary · why it matters

Asia Plus Securities said the Golden Week holiday boosted weekly foreign tourist arrivals to Thailand to 522,532 during September 27 to October 3, rising about 8% week on week, driven mainly by China at 133,946, up 42% week on week. After Golden Week, sentiment is supporting investment ahead of the IMF-World Bank meeting from October 12 to 18, which the brokerage views as a major event that will lift revenue for hotel operators such as ERW, AWC and CENTEL more than for AOT and airlines. Hotel revenue is outperforming tourist numbers, with checks showing that for the third quarter of 2026, revenue per available room based on on-the-books data for Thai hotels such as CENTEL and MINT rose 10% to 13% year on year. MINT derives 50% of its revenue from hotels in the EU, while ERW still confirms a target of 7% year-on-year revenue growth. The research team remains focused on Thai tourism and picks CENTEL for its earnings momentum from the hotel business, followed by AOT and ERW as an event trade and a proxy for Thai tourism, and keeps its estimates, expecting hotel operators to be more resilient than airlines going forward given their diversified hotel portfolios, while new hotel openings by CENTEL and ERW will support continued growth over the medium term.

Impact on assets 5

Consumer Discretionary▲
Real Estate▲
Industrials▲
Airports Of Thailand PCL
AOT
± MixedDemandrelevance

Named as a Thai tourism proxy/event trade, but the brokerage says hotels will benefit more than AOT and airlines.