The harsh reality of hotel performance is that one holiday, a series of Saturdays, or even decent domestic vacation travel ultimately isn’t enough for hoteliers to contend with, and that a more comprehensive rejuvenation of travel is required.
But Songkran – the celebration of Thai New Year – in April brought modest relief and a much-needed smile for a few days to various accommodation providers in Thailand.
The Thai province of Krabi achieved a very respectable hotel occupancy rate of 81% on Sunday, April 11th, and achieved a solid average over the entire seven-day period that culminated with Songkran from April 12th to 15th. While the occupancy peaks in Samui and Phuket were both shorter and lower at 61% and 46% respectively, this was certainly a change in the landscape in the past 12 months.
Conversely, hotel performance at the usual weekend hotspots in Hua Hin and Pattaya, only a few minutes’ drive from Bangkok, was more subdued, as the Thais instead headed for the islands and the hotels in Hua Hin were occupied at 61%. The northwest city of Chiang Mai has not yet caught up with the weekend peaks recorded in the fourth quarter of 2020. However, what unites all markets is that demand for Songkran has dropped everywhere and most markets are only single-digit.
The scene is pretty grim right now as Thailand has entered a new wave of COVID-19 and is in the middle of clearing hospital beds to control rapidly rising cases as well as the death rate.
While Songkran took a brief hiatus and hopes and plans for Phuket to reopen to international travelers in July were drawn, the long-term goal of allowing tourism to return to the next high season in the fourth quarter of 2021 requires decisive action through ongoing waves of confidence in create future arrivals.
Hotel occupancy in the books increases slightly in the fourth quarter – as tourists from Scandinavian countries book both hotels and villas for December and January – the interest and potential in Thailand is not an issue.
The question is more whether Thailand can be ready in time.
Jesper Palmqvist is Area Director for Asia Pacific at STR, the hospitality analytics division of the CoStar Group. He lives in Singapore.
This article provides an interpretation of the data collected by CoStars Hospitality Analytics company STR.
