Data by SiteMinder, the global hotel industry’s leading guest acquisition platform, today reveals a much-needed wave of travellers is set to arrive at the doors of Thailand’s accommodation businesses during the upcoming Songkran Festival.
SiteMinder’s World Hotel Index shows that hotel guest arrivals for the week of the Thai New Year holiday represent over 24 percent of all hotel guest arrivals expected over the next 12 months. The visible spike in arrivals follows the government’s extension of the holiday, from five days to six, to stimulate nationwide tourism and accommodate those travelling across the country to visit their hometowns.
Already, the wave of travellers has helped to accelerate Thailand’s hotel booking momentum. Since February 1, hotel bookings have risen from below 25 percent of 2019 levels, to almost 50 percent of 2019 levels, only one percent below the global average.
“The steady rise of year-over-year hotel bookings in Thailand that we have seen due to the Songkran Festival has been very encouraging to see,” says Bradley Haines, Regional Vice President of Asia Pacific at SiteMinder. “It’s pleasing to see the government actively creating an environment so encouraging of domestic travel. Until international travel meaningfully recommences, it’s these types of events that will allow local hotels to continue to provide viable options for Thai domestic travellers in the months ahead.”
Thailand, which has historically relied on international travellers for approximately 70 percent of its booked hotel stays, has increasingly depended on domestic holidaymakers since the pandemic began. More than 86 percent of bookings made to Thai hotels in March have been by Thai locals, compared to just 34 percent in April of 2019.
