Long weekend this month pushes up hotel booking rates

The index run by SiteMinder found that the rate of bookings in Thailand this week surpassed 59 per cent of the 2019 booking rate for the third time this year since March.

Since October, the booking rate of 14 hotels has increased by more than 77 per cent, especially those in Phuket which enjoyed the highest booking rate in 250 days.
The same phenomenon was seen during a four-day-long weekend in November.
A long weekend beginning with Constitution Day on December 10 has spurred a sudden increase in bookings among Thai tourists.
Over 17 per cent of the number of tourists in the coming months travel over the holidays. The number of hotel reservations tends to soar near the end of the weekend, the index reported.
“After the accommodation business in Thailand faced a difficult situation this year, we are glad to see Thai people support the tourism business during this four-day holiday," said Brad Hines, regional vice president of Asia Pacific at SiteMinder.
"With the measure to restrict foreigners' entry into Thailand still on, this is a great opportunity for Thais to travel within the country and experience the beauty of Thailand before foreign tourists gradually travel to Thailand again,” he said.
The increase in hotel reservation rates in Thailand is also in line with hotel reservation rates in other Asian countries.
In Taiwan, the rate of bookings increased by more than 20 per cent from the previous month. The Philippines was up 33 per cent from the previous month, and Vietnam was up 63 per cent from the previous month, according to World Hotel Index.