Thailand’s quarantine hotels consider move to hybrid model

Hotels currently operating as alternative state quarantine facilities are considering moving to a hybrid model, as bookings drop ahead of Phuket’s re-opening. ASQ hotels say reduced demand means they may adopt a model whereby they accept both quarantining guests and regular guests from the second half of the year.

Prin Pathanatham from the ASQ-ALQ Club Thailand says bookings have started to drop following confirmation that Phuket’s “sandbox” re-opening would go ahead from July 1. Average occupancy in May had already dropped around 10% from April’s rate of 45 – 50%. Prin says hardly any hotels have received advance bookings after June 15, as people eye quarantine-free entry to Phuket.

“Revenue in the second half of this year will likely plunge once the re-opening plan moves forward. ASQ operators have to monitor the situation and re-evaluate their business models.”

Hotels hope to be operating a hybrid model during the last quarter of the year, with quarantine and non-quarantine operations split between buildings or floors. The focus will be on other services such as banqueting and conferences, as opposed to relying on room bookings.

According to a Bangkok Post report, around 5 – 10% of ASQ hotels are already running a hybrid operation, but how successful it is will depend on the reaction from local tourists and guests.

The ASQ-ALQ Club is also calling on the government to vaccinate 12,000 hotel employees at 147 ASQ properties in the central provinces of Bangkok, Samut Prakan, Nonthaburi, and Pathum Thani.

Meanwhile, Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun from the Thai Hotels Association says herd immunity in Thailand remains a very distant goal and that the policy of state quarantine and alternative state quarantine should be prolonged for at least a year.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

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