Hotels are slashing prices to lure in Thai customers as the government starts boosting domestic tourism. The future of international travel, however, remains in doubt.
The government will decide on measures to promote domestic tourism by the cabinet meeting next Tuesday.
Such measures could include an allowance of 2,000-3,000 baht for Thai citizens who wish to travel across provinces, according to recent reports.
In response, hotels are already beginning to slash prices to better suit Thai customers until the international entry ban is lifted.
However, even if the ban is lifted, there is no guarantee that foreign tourists will return right away.
Latest numbers
Tourism Minister Piphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Thursday that there were 6.69 million arrivals during the first five months of 2020 in comparison to 16.71 million in the same period in 2019.
The nearly 60 per cent drop in arrivals contributed to a loss of 489 billion baht of possible income.
As for domestic tourism, about 40.15 million Thais were travelling between provinces during the first five months of 2020 which is a significant drop from the 96.03 million Thais in the same period in 2019.
This has also contributed to a loss of 263 billion baht of possible income.
The ministry predicts that tourism receipts will drop by 60 per cent to 1.78 trillion baht in 2020 from 3.01 trillion baht in 2019.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said in April that they expected only 16 million international tourists and 60 million domestic trips in 2020.
TAT’s pre-COVID targets were 40 million and 172 million respectively.
Revenue will also decline to around 1.9 trillion baht from 1.93 trillion baht in 2019 when 39.8 million people visited Thailand.
However, Piphat said that reopening businesses in May, the resumption of domestic flights, and the expected measures to boost domestic tourism should all be able to support the sector’s recovery.
Transportations
There is uncertainty in regards to international flights as the government is still discussing the travel bubble model.
They have also yet to confirm whether the entry ban will be lifted at midnight on June 30.
In contrast, six airlines have already resumed domestic flights to 32 routes.
These include 12 routes from Thai AirAsia, 10 from Nok Air, 6 Thai Lion Air, 3 from Vietjet Air and 1 from Bangkok Airways. The State Railway of Thailand has also resumed services to 84 routes so far.
Hotels
Even larger hotels are slashing prices as flexibility and affordability are becoming necessary to attract Thai tourists whose income have been greatly hit by the pandemic.
Five-star hotels such as The Athenee Hotel and Bangkok Marriott Hotel The Surawongse have cut their prices down from 5,000 baht per night to 1,000 baht per night.
Centara Hotel and Resort group came up with the “Stronger Together” campaign to offer rooms for CentaraThe1 members at a net price of 960 baht for all of its hotels nationwide until November.
Minor International (MINT) came out with a family package at Anantara Hua Hin Resort at 4,500 baht per night with breakfast and dinner, free activities at its kids’ club, and 30-minute foot massages.
Dusit Thani group are also offering a “Dusit Care” campaign that allows customers to use an electronic gift card to buy rooms at participating hotels within its group at a price of 2,888 baht per night with breakfast for two.
According to the travel website Expedia Thailand, more than 5,000 Thais have been searching and booking hotels on its platform since April. They said this is a signal that people were feeling confident enough to travel.
The top five domestic destinations that Thais were looking to check-in at between October and December were Phuket (12.82 per cent), Bangkok (11.54 per cent), Chiang Mai (4.88 per cent), Krabi (3.98 per cent) and Samui (3.5 per cent).
Most of the top ten destinations, domestically and internationally, were in Thailand and Japan.
The top 10 destinations that Thais was looking at between January and February 2021 were Tokyo (1.92 per cent), Phuket (1.86 per cent), Bangkok (1.32 per cent), Sapporo (0.78 per cent), Seoul (0.76 per cent), Krabi (0.68 per cent), Pattaya (0.62 per cent), Chiang Mai (0.6 per cent), Samui (0.4 per cent) and Phangnga (0.38 per cent).
