HANGING off to the island's east coast like an appendix, Cape Panwa is often seen as Phuket's ''sleepy hollow'' when it comes to tourism.
Much talk lately has centred on that other cape, Cape Yamu, and its upscale property resort, although reports on sales are mixed.
All that is about to change in 2008-2009 with the opening of not one but two prestigious international brands and the bold expansion of a third, all on ''sleepy'' Cape Panwa.
As it is now, Cape Panwa is home among other less well-known brands to the Cape Panwa Hotel, the Kantary Bay Hotel, Sri panwa, which is magnificently positioned on the headland itself, and the Novotel Beach Resort Panwa, on the seafront to the south.
The old Panwaburi, at one stage set to become a Conrad, is now being cosmetically reshaped as the Regent Phuket Cape Panwa.
On the cove below, the Radisson Plaza Resort Phuket Panwa Beach is rapidly sprouting rooms and shorefront villas amid waving coconut palms.
Both are Carlson group resort brands, but with different owners.
As well as the two large new destinations, there is plenty of activity at two of the established resorts, too.
Sri Panwa is extending down a hillside and the Novotel has a large sequel development underway opposite on the Panwa beach road.
What all this activity means is that ''sleepy hollow'' Panwa will soon be wide awake and ready for action.
The Radisson Plaza is scheduled for completion in August and we have been told that the Regent will be fully renovated and open in March, 2009.
Positions are already being advertised online.
Our estimate is that between 500 and 600 rooms will be added to the stock at the Cape over the next eight months. The four-storey Radisson alone will have 270 new rooms available.
Inevitably, this will bring competition for existing resorts and their f&b outlets and an enormous boost to the cape's economy.
Already awning advertisements have been strung along the local roads, calling for applicants for jobs at the Novotel and at Baan Panwa.
More advertising is bound to follow, and 'For Sale' signs are going up at other sites with beach frontages or good views, or both.
With most resorts tending to draw staff from villages within a leisurely motorcycle ride, the Regent and Radisson will probably find themselves engaged in a fairly intense competition.
Candidates for the hundreds of jobs at the resorts are likely to come of necessity from wider afield in both directions, from Phuket City and Chalong.
With other brands destined to boost the number of rooms available on Phuket to 40,000 for the first time this year, 2008 should be good for job-seekers in tourism.
Visitors will find the cape a charming place, with night-time entertainment the only large blank.
The road from the cape to Chalong provides one of the most scenic journeys on the island, offering stunning panoramic views across to the pier and the Big Buddha.
Expect the smattering of restaurants along this gorgeous thoroughfare to multiply, likewise along the central foreshore strip that runs between the Navy base and the Aquarium.
Phuketwan toured the incomplete grounds of the Regent this week and found villas with swimming pools and stunning views across the water, often to industrial facilities.
Before too long, the price of land is likely to have port authorities and others on nearby industrial sites looking at how much money can be made by selling out and moving facilities away from Cape Panwa.
That should mark the second phase in the coming Cape Panwa boom.
Look for the latest on the Andaman coast tourism explosion at Phuketwan every day
Much talk lately has centred on that other cape, Cape Yamu, and its upscale property resort, although reports on sales are mixed.
All that is about to change in 2008-2009 with the opening of not one but two prestigious international brands and the bold expansion of a third, all on ''sleepy'' Cape Panwa.
As it is now, Cape Panwa is home among other less well-known brands to the Cape Panwa Hotel, the Kantary Bay Hotel, Sri panwa, which is magnificently positioned on the headland itself, and the Novotel Beach Resort Panwa, on the seafront to the south.
The old Panwaburi, at one stage set to become a Conrad, is now being cosmetically reshaped as the Regent Phuket Cape Panwa.
On the cove below, the Radisson Plaza Resort Phuket Panwa Beach is rapidly sprouting rooms and shorefront villas amid waving coconut palms.
Both are Carlson group resort brands, but with different owners.
As well as the two large new destinations, there is plenty of activity at two of the established resorts, too.
Sri Panwa is extending down a hillside and the Novotel has a large sequel development underway opposite on the Panwa beach road.
What all this activity means is that ''sleepy hollow'' Panwa will soon be wide awake and ready for action.
The Radisson Plaza is scheduled for completion in August and we have been told that the Regent will be fully renovated and open in March, 2009.
Positions are already being advertised online.
Our estimate is that between 500 and 600 rooms will be added to the stock at the Cape over the next eight months. The four-storey Radisson alone will have 270 new rooms available.
Inevitably, this will bring competition for existing resorts and their f&b outlets and an enormous boost to the cape's economy.
Already awning advertisements have been strung along the local roads, calling for applicants for jobs at the Novotel and at Baan Panwa.
More advertising is bound to follow, and 'For Sale' signs are going up at other sites with beach frontages or good views, or both.
With most resorts tending to draw staff from villages within a leisurely motorcycle ride, the Regent and Radisson will probably find themselves engaged in a fairly intense competition.
Candidates for the hundreds of jobs at the resorts are likely to come of necessity from wider afield in both directions, from Phuket City and Chalong.
With other brands destined to boost the number of rooms available on Phuket to 40,000 for the first time this year, 2008 should be good for job-seekers in tourism.
Visitors will find the cape a charming place, with night-time entertainment the only large blank.
The road from the cape to Chalong provides one of the most scenic journeys on the island, offering stunning panoramic views across to the pier and the Big Buddha.
Expect the smattering of restaurants along this gorgeous thoroughfare to multiply, likewise along the central foreshore strip that runs between the Navy base and the Aquarium.
Phuketwan toured the incomplete grounds of the Regent this week and found villas with swimming pools and stunning views across the water, often to industrial facilities.
Before too long, the price of land is likely to have port authorities and others on nearby industrial sites looking at how much money can be made by selling out and moving facilities away from Cape Panwa.
That should mark the second phase in the coming Cape Panwa boom.
Look for the latest on the Andaman coast tourism explosion at Phuketwan every day
