Most hotels in Thailand getting closer to full recovery, survey shows
As many as 47% of hotels in Thailand have managed to revive their earnings to more than half of the pre-Covid levels, the Bank of Thailand’s confidence index for November showed.
“The number has risen from 32% of hotels in October,” said Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, president of the Thai Hotel Association (THA).
“This signals that Thailand’s hotel industry is on the path to recovery thanks to the influx of foreign tourists during the high season, which runs from November to March.”
The central bank and THA surveyed 113 hotels nationwide from November 11 to 27.
The survey also revealed that the occupation rate in November rose to 59% from October’s 49% due to high-season arrivals and the Apec Summit in Bangkok.
Hotel operators believe more than 50% of the rooms will be occupied as more tourists can be expected during the cool season.
Meanwhile, the employment rate among hotels has remained unchanged at 73.3% of pre-Covid levels, though 81% of the respondents have said they will hire more workers in the next three months. However, most hotels do not intend to expand their workforce by more than 10%.
As for operational costs, 75% of the respondents said they expected operational costs in the last quarter to rise from the previous quarter. The main factors behind the increase are the rising cost of raw materials; surge in electricity, water and fuel costs; and higher wages to attract skilled workers.
To mitigate the impact, hotel operators are calling on the government to expand the limit of soft loans and bring down the interest rate from 3% per year.
They also hope the government will consider extending the “Rao Tiew Duay Kan” (We Travel Together) subsidy scheme. The Cabinet is scheduled to consider the next phase of the scheme on December 20.
