Tourism minister may establish TAT-run firm to operate hotel-reservation website
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Tourism and Sports Minister Somsak Pureesrisak is looking for ways to set up a hotel-reservation website, and one option is to establish a company run by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
However, the feasibility of such an initiative will be studied first. He will also seek cooperation from the Thai Hotels Association, which has its own plan to develop a reservation website to serve its member hotels and compete against foreign online operators, especially Agoda.
Somsak is in talks with Deputy Prime Minister Kittiratt Na-Ranong to get his support for the project. The Information and Communications Technology Ministry would also play a supporting role by helping develop the necessary software.
It is likely that the website will be launched this year. The portal will charge hotels a commission of 5 per cent. Of that, 3 percentage points will be given to the TAT and 2 percentage points will be contributed to the tourism industry via a development fund.
That would be a significant saving from what is charged by other online reservation services. Agoda charges up to 40 per cent during low season.
Somsak’s initiative was announced on Koh Samui to an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation working group for tourism.
Hotel operators on Samui are studying how to create an effective reservation website. Like Somsak’s proposal, they would charge a 5-per-cent commission and use some of the proceeds for a tourism fund on the island. The offered room rates would be similar to those on other sites.
They say it is not fair that online operators control the market when they have not invested a single baht to construct the hotels, while they take money out of the country.
