Domestic Tourism Key to Rebuilding Thailand’s Tourism Industry

On Nov 1, Thailand reopened its airport, marking the first step to rebuilding the battered tourism industry. However, international demand is still sluggish and the new Omicron coronavirus variant just emerged.

Thailand reported 133,061 arrivals from Nov 1-30, far below the pre-pandemic level of around 3 million tourists per month.

As foreign demand is sluggish, tourism operators depend on the domestic market, especially meetings and seminars organized by state agencies.

In order to increase domestic trips during the high season, hotel operators have advised the government to add 1 million room nights to the government’s Hotel Subsidy Program, called ‘We Travel Together.

In Chiang Mai, half of the 60,000 rooms are open, up from 20-30% in July-August. However, the lack of foreign tourists has caused the unemployment rate to remain low.

On average, there was 40% occupancy in the city centre in November, but hill hotels in Mon Cham, Mae On and Samoeng, which are popular with Thais, had 50-60% occupancy and were fully booked during weekends.

Furthermore, domestic tourists were the key market sustaining occupancy rates between 70 and 80% while foreign tourists were interested in Cha-am as a second choice after touring major provinces.

Meanwhile, Tourism-related businesses in Pattaya celebrated the lifting of the alcohol ban on Friday after complaining that they lost 60% of their income in the lukewarm market.

Restaurants and hotels with SHA Plus certificates located in blue zone areas may sell alcohol while adopting preventative measures in a COVID-free environment, the Provincial Communicable Disease Committee issued an order on Friday.

By CTN News