Boost in tourism expected over Loy Krathong Festival

The Tourism Authority of Thailand said that they are anticipating a slight boost in tourism for this year’s Loy Krathong Festival. While still much quieter than in the days before the pandemic, this year a bit more travelling and tourism related to the event are expected than last year. The TAT estimates that tourists throughout the country will spend around 1.4 billion baht during Loy Krathong.

Over 550,000 domestic trips have been booked this year, according to Tourism Authority governor Yuthasak Supasorn. Northern Thailand will likely receive a large number of these visitors. Around Chiang Mai the Floating Lantern Festival, known as Yi Peng, is held at the same time and typically attracts many visitors. The Bangkok Post reports that around 150,000 trips are projected to be made to the North. Over 60,000 visitors will be headed to Chiang Mai, where the hotel occupancy rate is expected to be 34%.

Around the country, there is still quite a bit of concern over this year’s festival. This boost in tourism is expected despite the fact that there is a surge of Covid-19 infections in the Northern provinces. The Post adds that Chiang Mai is still reporting over 300 new cases every day. Additionally, Bangkok and surrounding areas are experiencing serious issues with flooding. Yuthasak explained that Loy Krathong this year will still look very different from the festival in the days before Covid-19.

“Travel sentiment for the upcoming festival cannot compare with those in pre-pandemic years as people remain concerned about the outbreak, while many provinces have to maintain restrictions on some activities to comply with the universal preventive scheme.”

This festival is an important time economically for some of the less touristy regions like the Eastern and Central provinces, the TAT explains. This is because it’s a time when many people leave the big cities where they work to go back and visit their hometowns.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post