Thai hotels see surge in bookings as government agencies rush to spend budget
Thai hotels are seeing a bookings surge as government agencies rush to exhaust their fiscal 2023 budget ahead of the September cut-off. This comes following a period of stagnation in the booking of meetings due to the country’s political uncertainty. Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, the Thai Hotels Association (THA) president, reported a 10-20% increase in both government and private sector meetings this month.
State agencies and corporate clients have been significantly reducing their demand due to the lack of political clarity in recent months. This has resulted in a reluctance to spend from the business sector, while state officials have been holding back budget allocation until there is a clearer political landscape.
According to Marisa, many government agencies are now reaching out to hotels to utilise their fiscal 2023 budget before the September 30 deadline. Despite this, the number of bookings from Chinese travellers for the October national holiday remains low. It is speculated that this could be due to travellers waiting to see if the new Thai prime minister will offer visa-free visits, a move that could greatly support hotels that typically target Chinese guests.
Five-star hotels have regained a healthy occupancy rate from individual guests with high purchasing power since Thailand reopened, Marisa stated. However, she also noted that online travel agents in China expressed concerns about the country’s reputation for unsafe travel conditions, based on viral posts on Chinese social media.
During a meeting with the new Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool, THA and other tourism operators asked the government to restart domestic tourism subsidy schemes, particularly those targeting second-tier cities.
Marisa additionally expressed scepticism regarding the Pheu Thai Party’s 10,000-baht giveaway benefiting the tourism sector due to the rise in household debts.
“It will be difficult to boost the domestic market without any stimulus programme for tourism.”
Following a government statement expressing concerns about the country’s ageing demographics, Nunbhakdi suggested that the hotel sector could provide job opportunities for active seniors.
She also proposed that the government should assist hotels by supporting training programmes aimed at recruiting new graduates and retired seniors, which would help tackle the labour shortage, reported Bangkok Post.
