Many hotels keep current rates

Chanin Donavanik, chief executive officer and managing director of Dusit International, said many hotels in Bangkok could not raise their room rates by 5-10 per cent as they used to in October, ahead of the high season between November and February. He said only a few hotels had adjusted their rates. 

“The big problem is more low-quality tourists coming, and that is reflected by four- and five-star hotels being unable to increase room rates,” he said.

“This year, the tourism industry faced difficulties from the (sluggish) European market and the aviation-safety problem. But I hope the tourism situation will get better next year.” 

Chanin expects the tourism sector to grow by 10 per cent in 2016 but that there will still be no adjustment of room rates. According to the Thailand Hotel Industry Survey of Operations conducted last year by Horwath HTL, occupancy rates across the board dropped by as much as 21 per cent, with the bulk of hotels in the Bt1,500-Bt5,500 category suffering most. Demand for the highest and lowest rate segments was most unaffected in 2014.

Occupancy rates generally declined everywhere across the country, but this trend was most evident in Bangkok, where hotels were badly hurt by political turmoil. 

Despite the general industry downturn, top-tier hotels in Phuket, as well as those in the various other locations, achieved a reasonable increase in occupancy. 

As for this year, Surapong Techaruvichit, president of the Thai Hotels Association, said the average occupancy at hotels nationwide during the New Year holiday period would be around 70 per cent, a slightly lower than last year.

He said hotels had received fewer bookings from Western markets, forcing operators to maintain the same room rates and packages as last year.

“The average room rate at hotels in Bangkok is already lower than in many other cities in the region. If there is no price adjustment this year, our hotel rates will be even extra lower (in comparison),” he said. 

However, more tourists from China and other markets in Southeast Asia are expected to arrive this month to celebrate Christmas and New Year’s.