Political Calm Cited For Enhancing Hotel Occupancy As Songkran Nears

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Political calm cited for enhancing hotel occupancy as Songkran nears
BAMRUNG AMNATCHAROENRIT
THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- Hotel operators are beaming as their rooms fill up and expect the trend to continue for the whole year if political unrest does not surface as a threat to the hospitality industry.

"I am quite happy with its good performance, thanks to the current peaceful atmosphere of the country,'' Surapong Techaruvichit, president of the Thai Hotels Association, said yesterday.

The hospitality outlook has been positive, even as the baht has strengthened. Its appreciation has still not had any impact on the industry. Currencies in the region have been marching in the same direction, so Thailand has not lost any competitiveness.

In the first quarter, the average occupancy rate should improve by 8-10 percentage points to 75-80 per cent from 62 per cent last year, he said.

The results for last month released yesterday support Surapong's forecast. Occupancy for the whole country increased 12-13 points to 75-80 per cent. The South enjoyed the fastest growth and highest occupancy rate - up 14 points to 92 per cent - while the North rose 9 points to 84 per cent and Bangkok 13 points to 80 per cent. The smog that is blanketing the North is not expected to have any impact on its occupancy rate.

Rooms are selling fast on the continuing recovery in foreign-tourist arrivals. In February, arrivals surged 25 per cent year on year to 2.32 million. This was up strongly from January, when arrivals increased 12 per cent to 2.24 million.

The Songkran Festival next month will help push occupancy rates up further because travellers are in a good mood, as the country is relatively free from political tension. First-car buyers will enhance consumption by driving to nearby cities. Room rates are also on the rise. Some operators already increased their rates last month, but others left them unchanged despite high occupancy rates to help keep their business dynamic. However, the uptrend will be even clearer in the high season at the end of this year, with a rise of 5-10 points projected.

The capacity of facilities in the country to cope with the growing number of foreign tourists is a concern, especially airports such as the one in Phuket, which is now heavily congested. Clearly, nearby Krabi Airport will cash in by serving the overflow from the island province.

The hotel industry is facing a shortage of skilled labour, especially housekeepers and receptionists, to serve the growing demand.

The association plans to lure |non-hotel workers into taking a short training course to work with the industry, along with offering more attractive pay.

Those working in four-star hotels earn more than Bt10,000 a month, which is better than those on the minimum daily rate of Bt300.


-- The Nation 2013-03-28

[RisqEM]

The smog in the north won't affect tourism? I can hear it now...who cares about air quality as long as the gov't is happy. Lets go!

Elementary thinking at its finest. It couldn't be the nearing holiday or spring break around the world. No, everyone watches Thailand's politics before coming here.

Plus, is it truly occupied or occupation+reservation?

[backtonormal]

In the face of poor exchange rates the tourista are flocking in......good old Thaksin, bringing peace to the land

[Ricardo]

In the face of poor exchange rates the tourista are flocking in......good old Thaksin, bringing peace to the land

"bringing peace to the land" by staying away, I suspect.

Now if only that were a long-term state-of-affairs.

Meanwhile the THA announce continuing good news, occupancy for hi-so hotels continues to be up, following their calls last-year for a government-Crackdown (I know !) on those wicked non-member/unlicensed cheaper more-friendly hotels/guesthouses, who prevent prices from being driven-up even further !

[slapout]

The good news, we will hand out life jackets to those in need, (passengers on sinking ship), the better news, we will raffle off the jackets as the ships log book indicates, they took on too many passengers at the discounted rate..

It have to appreciate the good news we keep hearing from those in charge of the bad news producing cluster f..k

[madmitch]

Put simply

Asian and Russian tourists numbers up.

European tourist numbers down.

Asians travel year round so the low season will be better than in the past.

Good for big hotels (association members) who get the big tour groups, bad for the rest.

[Kitbaikitmah]

Oh dear...a warning between the lines: mass migration of first-time car buyers during samsong kran.

Wonder what the hospital occupancy points are projected to rise by?

[Jawnie]

I'm confused. The hotel operators say that "political calm" is the reason occupancy is way up. But, just last week, our fav, Gen. Prayuth, was complaining about the Thai PBS series regarding Article 112. Prayuth was quoted in the Bangkok Post saying, "He said airing the broadcast was inappropriate at a time of political conflict," and ""However, I must ask if this is an appropriate thing to do during this time when political conflicts remain sharp."

Do the hoteliers and Prayuth live in the same parts of Thailand, or....what?

Maybe one is trying to stir the pot to keep their own military job safe while the other is flying a false flag of calm hoping to increase profits at the hotels.

I dunno......

[Mudcrab]

I'm confused. The hotel operators say that "political calm" is the reason occupancy is way up. But, just last week, our fav, Gen. Prayuth, was complaining about the Thai PBS series regarding Article 112. Prayuth was quoted in the Bangkok Post saying, "He said airing the broadcast was inappropriate at a time of political conflict," and ""However, I must ask if this is an appropriate thing to do during this time when political conflicts remain sharp."

Do the hoteliers and Prayuth live in the same parts of Thailand, or....what?

Maybe one is trying to stir the pot to keep their own military job safe while the other is flying a false flag of calm hoping to increase profits at the hotels.

I dunno......

Most international tourists do not care about the percieved political isssues...just value for money in a warm climate. I would suggest that a significant number of "tourists" still get more pussy per dollar/pound/franc than they would at home...and this is what keeps them coming (pun intended)