Political calm cited for enhancing hotel occupancy as Songkran nears
Hotel operators are beaming as their rooms fill up and expect the trend to continue for the whole year if political unrest does not surface as a threat to the hospitality industry.
“I am quite happy with its good performance, thanks to the current peaceful atmosphere of the country,’’ Surapong Techaruvichit, president of the Thai Hotels Association, said yesterday.
The hospitality outlook has been positive, even as the baht has strengthened. Its appreciation has still not had any impact on the industry. Currencies in the region have been marching in the same direction, so Thailand has not lost any competitiveness.
In the first quarter, the average occupancy rate should improve by 8-10 percentage points to 75-80 per cent from 62 per cent last year, he said.
The results for last month released yesterday support Surapong’s forecast. Occupancy for the whole country increased 12-13 points to 75-80 per cent. The South enjoyed the fastest growth and highest occupancy rate – up 14 points to 92 per cent – while the North rose 9 points to 84 per cent and Bangkok 13 points to 80 per cent. The smog that is blanketing the North is not expected to have any impact on its occupancy rate.
Rooms are selling fast on the continuing recovery in foreign-tourist arrivals. In February, arrivals surged 25 per cent year on year to 2.32 million. This was up strongly from January, when arrivals increased 12 per cent to 2.24 million.
The Songkran Festival next month will help push occupancy rates up further because travellers are in a good mood, as the country is relatively free from political tension. First-car buyers will enhance consumption by driving to nearby cities. Room rates are also on the rise. Some operators already increased their rates last month, but others left them unchanged despite high occupancy rates to help keep their business dynamic. However, the uptrend will be even clearer in the high season at the end of this year, with a rise of 5-10 points projected.
The capacity of facilities in the country to cope with the growing number of foreign tourists is a concern, especially airports such as the one in Phuket, which is now heavily congested. Clearly, nearby Krabi Airport will cash in by serving the overflow from the island province.
The hotel industry is facing a shortage of skilled labour, especially housekeepers and receptionists, to serve the growing demand.
The association plans to lure |non-hotel workers into taking a short training course to work with the industry, along with offering more attractive pay.
Those working in four-star hotels earn more than Bt10,000 a month, which is better than those on the minimum daily rate of Bt300.
