South hotels to woo domestic tourists with premium packages
Hotel operators in the South are launching premium packages this month to attract domestic tourists looking to visit Phuket, Krabi, Phang Nga and Surat Thani.
The campaign follows relaxation of Covid-19 measures in the four tourist provinces under the government’s Phuket Sandbox and Samui Plus programme.
Surachat Iawsakul, a director of Thai Hotels Association (Southern Chapter), said on Thursday that the campaign aims to provide a premium travel experience from luxurious hotels and restaurants as well as marine activities, such as diving and sailing, at reasonable prices.
“Before the pandemic, luxury hotels sold room packages at around Bt5,000 to Bt10,000 per night. Now the prices have dropped to around Bt2,000 per night, which should attract wider groups of customers who want a premium travel experience,” he said. “Customers can reserve a package this month and choose their visiting period to fit their schedule from late September until the end of the first quarter of 2022.
“We estimated that throughout the campaign more than Bt5 million revenue will be generated from room packages alone,” he added.
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The association also estimated that more Thai tourists would visit the southern provinces during the high season, or from November onwards, if daily Covid infections continued to decline, which would lead to further easing of travel restrictions nationwide.
Surachat added that after over two months of the Phuket "sandbox" progamme, the tourism industry in the province was gradually improving though the number of foreign visitors were not as high as the association had hoped.
“As of September 17 -- the 76th day of the campaign -- around 32,000 foreign tourists have entered Phuket,” he said. “However, looking back, when the Covid-19 outbreak started to escalate in July 2020, more than 90 per cent of about 2,500 hotels in Phuket had to shut their doors. In June this year, about 300 hotels in Phuket, or 12 per cent, were still open with approximately 15,000 total rooms. From July to August, the number of open hotels rose to over 500, or 20 per cent, with approximately 30,000 rooms.”
