Thailand takes No.1 spot in new Global Beachfront Awards

Le Paradis Boutique Resort at Chewang, Koh Samui – Photo John Everingham

Firstly, congratulations to Thailand for taking the top spot in the Global Beachfront Awards. Next, I was quite surprised that Malaysia never did make it into this list.

But then again, after reading the criteria carefully, these awards go to “the number of true beachfront accommodation establishments a country offers, and include all levels from beach bungalows to luxury, 5-star resorts” and this is something that Malaysia has never pushed for.

I guess Malaysia is still a great place as our beaches are not over-crowded. We do have some really amazing and beautiful beach fronts around Malaysia where there are high-end resorts to beautiful natural lodges scattered throughout our coastline in peninsular Malaysia.

And over in Sabah and Sarawak of Malaysia Borneo, you can find even more beautiful beaches too. Take a look at this article about the Best Beaches in Malaysia I wrote some time ago too.

Thailand Number One in Global Beachfront Awards

pantai-cenang-beach Thailand takes No.1 spot in new Global Beachfront Awards

Some of the less-crowded beaches of Malaysia, this one at Langkawi Island

Thailand takes No. 1 spot in new Global Beachfront Awards with an amazing 1,250 beachfront hotels; Samui takes top Destination Award

Anyway, the new darling of beach-lovers worldwide, Thailand is riding a crest in humanity’s age-old love affair with the beach that has helped it overtake traditional beach countries like Spain, Mexico, and Greece in the new Global Beachfront Awards.

Thailand, a rising superstar in global tourism, has beaten the world’s most famous, traditional beach destinations including Spain, Mexico, USA, Greece, and Turkey to take the number one position in the newly announced Global Beachfront Awards.

Thailand won the top spot with over 1,250 true beachfront hotels and resorts, followed by the USA with 1,016, Mexico with 943, Spain with 736 and Greece with 576.

global-beachfront-awards-2014 Thailand takes No.1 spot in new Global Beachfront Awards

Global Beachfront Awards Top 10 Countries

This win follows Thailand’s meteoric, 88% rise in tourist numbers over the past five years, overriding both the global depression and its own well-publicized, internal political upheavals.

Street violence and grenade attacks in Bangkok did little to slow the country’s burgeoning tourism business, which consistently outperformed all other global players by wide margins over the last five years.

Figures from the United Nations World Tourism Organization (WTO) show that in 2013, for the first time, Thailand rose to join the world’s Top 10 most visited countries.

This world-winning performance was powered by millions of international visitors flocking not to its golden temples but mainly to its beautiful tropical beaches.

In 2013, 12 of Thailand’s 27 million international tourists visited the island of Phuket alone – and it has 12 more widely scattered beach destinations with over 30 beachfront resorts each.

Global Beachfront Awards

Issued by The Beachfront Club, whose website maps beachfront hotels in detail not seen elsewhere, the Global Beachfront Awards claim to have accounted for over 12,000 accommodation establishments on beaches in 109 countries.

The awards are a measure of the number of true beachfront accommodation establishments a country offers, and include all levels from beach bungalows to luxury, 5-star resorts.

‘True beachfront’, by the criteria of this Club, includes only those hotels directly on a beach or oceanfront with no road or traffic between the rooms and the water.

Conclusion

Once again, congratulations to Thailand for taking the top spot in the Global Beachfront Awards of 2014.

I truly hope that Malaysia will eventually make it into the list for the coming years, as there are some pretty beautiful beachfront found all over the country.

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