Fear of Omicron outbreak another curse for Thai hotel industry
Hotel occupancy in Thailand is expected to plunge 20 per cent in January over fears of the highly transmissible Omicron variant sparking an outbreak.
Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, president of the Thai Hotels Association, said on Tuesday that the occupancy rate of hotels this month will be similar to that in October last year when tourists were restricted over fears of the Delta variant.
She said the situation improved in November and December when the country was reopened to tourists under the Test & Go scheme, in which fully vaccinated people only had to spend the first night in isolation while they waited for their RT-PCR test results.
However, she said the indefinite suspension of the Test & Go scheme coupled with the work-from-home (WHF) directive until the end of January would definitely affect the income of hotels. The WFH directive is prompting companies to cancel plans to hold seminars in hotels, she explained.
Marisa added the hotels association, in cooperation with the Bank of Thailand, surveyed 134 hotels from December 9 to 24. The survey also included 23 hotels earmarked for alternative quarantine and three “hospitel” hotels.
The survey found that 111 hotels that are not earmarked as alternative quarantine sites or hospitels saw bookings rise to 37 per cent compared to 30 per cent in November.
Marisa said the high-season, easing of control measures including the greenlight to serve booze in restaurants along with New Year celebrations and the Test & Go programme contributed to the improvement.
The survey found that 74 per cent of hotels had resumed normal operations compared to 68 per cent in November. She added that 49 per cent of the hotels surveyed earned 30 per cent of the revenue they earned before the pandemic, while only 25 per cent managed to have 50 per cent of their revenue restored.
She said the survey found that most hotels’ liquidity had improved in December, but 58 per cent said they only had enough to survive for three months, while 8 per cent only had enough to survive for one month.
The survey also found their room occupancy rates were about 45 to 55 per cent and most had only rehired some 60 per cent of their pre-pandemic workforce.
Marisa added that 49 per cent of the hotels said they were worried about the country closing to tourists again due to Omicron, while 72 per cent said they would have to reduce their staff to stay afloat.
