Hotels in South Thailand eager for surge in visitors this year

South Thailand’s hotels are eager for a surge in visitors during Thailand’s high season from October to December. About 80% of hotels in Songkhla province have reopened after ‘Thailand Pass’ was scrapped on July 1, according to the Songkhla Tourism Industry Council.

Since Thailand Pass was scrapped, Songkhla has welcomed a rush of Malaysian tourists driving across the border. The president of the Songkhla Tourism Industry Council says the council expects more than 90% of operators to resume their businesses this year. The president, Somphol Cheewawattanapong, said…

“Songkhla is expected to attract about 800,000 foreign visitors in 2022 or about 40% of the 2 million visitors per year before the pandemic.”

Meanwhile, the island of Koh Samui has seen a 70% recovery in tourism. Staff from the Samui Tourism Promotion Board said the island’s hotel occupancy rate is expected to surge to 80-90% during the high season.

The president of the Thai Hotels Association noted that while South Thailand’s hotel occupancy is expected to rise, the number of foreign arrivals probably won’t rise by much. He said this is because China is still prohibiting its citizens from travelling overseas, except students and those for whom it is necessary.

Thai tourism officials have made different predictions on the number of foreign visitors expected to arrive in the kingdom this year. In July, the Tourism and Sports Ministry said it expected about 9.3 million foreign visitors to arrive in the ‘Land of Smiles’ in 2022. The kingdom saw 1.9 million foreign tourists arrive from January to June 28. This raked in about 114 million baht in tourism revenue.

SOURCE: Nation Thailand