5-star for bt500

[george]

Published on Apr 12, 2003

The Peninsula Bangkok and other establishments offer unprecedented deals to boost domestic tourism as foreign demand plummets

In a once-in-a-lifetime offer, Thais will be able to stay overnight at the five-star Peninsula Bangkok for just Bt500.

Charoen Wangananont, president of the Domestic Travel Association, said the hotel's rate of Bt500 a night was "unprecedented in the history of the Thai hotel industry".

The Peninsula Bangkok Hotel, which overlooks the Chao Phya River and is opposite the Oriental Hotel, is one of many hotels joining the "Unseen Price" campaign run by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

The Peninsula Bangkok normally charges an average US$260 (Bt10,920) a night.

The hotel price-cutting campaign launched yesterday at the TAT's headquarters aims to attract local tourists to offset the sharp drop in foreign tourist arrivals.

The campaign will run from April 15 to May 15, and local travellers will pay only Bt500 a night at all participating hotels.

Charoen predicted that local customers would book more than 5,000 room nights.

TAT governor Juthamas Siriwan said: "We are launching the

Bt500-per-night campaign in order to salvage the tourism industry. We don't want to see any staff laid off."

About a dozen other hotels in Thailand's major tourist cities will participate in the Unseen Price campaign. They include the Rama Garden Hotel, Bangkok; Resotel Hotel, Kanchanaburi; Imperial Mae Ping Hotel,

Chiang Mai; Golden Pine, Chiang Rai; Lampang River Lodge, Lampang; Imperial Phukaew, Petchabun; Charoen Thani Princess, Khon Kaen, Lai Thon, Ubon Rachathani; Royal Paradise, Phuket; and Ao Nang Villa, Krabi.

The tourist authorities and hotel-operators are trying to boost domestic tourism by making it more affordable for local leisure travellers.

Juthamas estimated that the number of foreign tourist arrivals in April this year would decline 40 per cent to 513,212.

Despite earlier TAT predictions that tourist numbers would not decline despite the war in Iraq, TAT now estimates that foreign tourist arrivals in 2003 will drop by 2.21 per cent to 10.56 million.

Unfortunately, Sars was not predictable, she said, adding that the impact of the Iraq war and Sars was more severe than expected.

However, she said she was optimistic that the income from tourist arrivals would grow 2 per cent over 2002.

The country's strong measures against tourists from Sars-infected countries caused many tour groups to cancel their trips to Thailand during the Songkran festival.

China, one of the risk countries, yesterday announced a ban on travel to Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.

Last year Thailand recorded more than 700,000 tourist arrivals from China.

Prakit Chinamornpong, secretary of the Thai Hotels Association, said the average hotel occupancy rate in Bangkok was just 30 per cent, compared to more than 50 per cent for the same period last year.

Supalerk Soorangkura, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, said hotels in the major tourist destinations of Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Hat Yai were not fully booked this year.

Choosak Jirasakunthai

The Nation

[bapak]

When attempting to make a reservation at The Peninsula Bangkok ... I quoted the reported rate... Response was -  "you have got to be joking"... Then went on to explain that the newspaper article was a misunderstanding...

There goes my "dirty weekend"...

[george]

When attempting to make a reservation at The Peninsula Bangkok ... I quoted the reported rate... Response was -  "you have got to be joking"... Then went on to explain that the newspaper article was a misunderstanding...

There goes my "dirty weekend"...

You are right, the Peninsula backed out of the deal, But more hotels are joining now: /George

BT500 ROOMS: 8 more hotels join campaign

Published on Apr 17, 2003

Eight more hotels from around the country have joined the Bt500-room campaign for residents, bringing the total to 18.

“We are really trying to boost domestic tourism during this time of slowdown,” said Charoen Wangananont, president of the Association of Domestic Travel.

The new participants are Krabi Thai Village and Krabi Heritage in Krabi; Bangkok Palace in Bangkok; Golden Beach in Pattaya; Imperial Golden Triangle in Chiang Rai; Imperial Tara in Mae Hong Son; and Eurasia Chiang Mai and Imperial Chiang Mai Resort in Chiang Mai.

The Iraq war and the spread of Sars has led to a worsening drop-off in tourists to Thailand and other countries in the region. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects arrivals to decline around 40 per cent this month on top of last month’s fall of 12 per cent.

The TAT last week launched the Unseen Price campaign with 10 hotels in key tourist cities offering a once-in-a-lifetime room rate of Bt500 a night for domestic leisure travellers. The rooms in the programme must be booked through the Association of Thai Travel Agents.

Charoen said the Unseen Price campaign represented this year’s first attempt by hotels and tour operators to boost domestic tourism to offset the no-shows of foreign tourists.

A second domestic tourism campaign would soon follow, with hundreds of hotels and tour operators nationwide expected to participate.

The Association of Thai Travel Agents said the Unseen Price campaign had brought a surge in room reservations.

“Krabi has got more bookings than other destinations,” its staff member said.

The room-for-Bt500 campaign was officially launched last week as a joint effort of the TAT and Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak. Domestic hotels and travel agents were asked to take more aggressive measures by introducing attractive packages to encourage domestic trips.

It was initially believed that the Peninsula Bangkok had enlisted in the Bt500-room promotion but a member of its marketing staff said the hotel would unveil its own initiative.

“It is our first package for the local market,” she said.

Last week, TAT governor Juthamas Siriwan estimated that the country would welcome only 513,212 foreign visitors this month and 10.56 million for the whole year, which would fall short of last year’s total by 2.21 per cent.

The damage from the Iraq and Sars crises has been more severe than expected, she said.

Hotel occupancy in Bangkok has also been hit, sinking to just 30 per cent compared with more than 50 per cent during the same period last year, said Prakit Chinamornpong, secretary of the Thai Hotels Association.

Choosak Jirasakunthai

The Nation

[Thetyim]

In your first posting you said that rooms were available to Thais for 500 baht a night.

My guess is that we will all have a hard time getting in when we book in as falangs.

Anyone there managed it yet ??

[Rinrada]

There has been a couple of interesting comments re.the 500Bt hotel promotion in the letters section of the Post and Nation questioning/asking if this really exists.

Has anyone actually managed to make a 500Bt booking and where? :cool: