Central group presses govt to ensure 'high season' success

Suthikiati Chirathivat, chairman of the board of Centara Hotels and Resorts, yesterday called on the government to make immediate efforts to rebuild the tourism industry after the bomb blast in Ratchaprasong Intersection on August 17 that killed 20 people.

He said many foreign tourists needed to feel confident about coming to Thailand as they are consider making reservations ahead of the high period starting in October. “If tourists do not feel confident, they may shift to other countries,” he said.

Since the bomb blast, Central Group has seen room cancellations and drop in food consumption, suffering total financial damage of more than Bt10 million. 

About 3,400 room-nights have been cancelled, mostly at Centara Grand at CentralWorld (900 room-nights), Centara Grand Ladprao (800 room-nights), Centara Pattaya (700 room-nights). 

However, several international conferences will still be held at its flagship hotel in Ratchaprasong as planned, including the World Congress of Surgery.

For Central Restaurant Group, sales at outlets near Ratchaprasong and the Siam area dropped by Bt1 million.

Suthikiati said Central Group had proposed that the government extend the permissible length of stay for tourists who carry visas on arrival in order to attract more visitors as well as to stimulate spending.

Furthermore, authorities could offer more privileges to MICE (meeting, incentive, convention, and exhibition) travellers during this period. 

Ronnachit Mahattanapreut, senior vice president for finance and administration at Centara Hotels and Resorts, said the revenue projections for the hotel and food businesses this year remained unchanged as the group had set a conservative target of more than Bt19 billion.

Several new hotel investments have been drawn up including two hotels in Maldives worth a total of Bt3.6 billion. Moreover, its new Cosi hotel brand is set to open in Koh Samui and Chiang Mai by 2018. 

Chai Srivikorn, president of the Ratchaprasong Square Trade Association, said that shopper traffic in the area had dropped by almost 40 per cent in the first week after the bomb blast, but was now gradually recovering, and was now only 25 per cent below the normal level.

“However, we have found that the number of foreign tourists in the area dropped by 30 per cent. Meanwhile, a number of events and activities scheduled by many international brands have been postponed. This has caused the occupancy levels posted by many hotels in the Ratchaprasong area to drop significantly from 90 per cent previously to only 50-60 per cent today,” Chai said.