Hotels in Bangkok: Tourism and protests – some answers

What are hotels doing in the face of ongoing street protests in Bangkok?

What are hotels doing in the face of ongoing street protests in Bangkok?
The political turmoil in Bangkok has sent room occupancies in the city on a nosedive, but hotel operators have devised various ways to soften the impact creating opportunity out of crisis.

โ€ขChris Bailey, senior vice president for sales & marketing at Centara Hotels & Resorts, said in a recent interview in TTG that many MICE events postponed and leisure booking cancelled but noted: โ€œCentara Grand at Central Plaza Ladprao actually sees much better figures (perhaps due to) its location slightly outside the city and also corporate clients who continue business as usual.โ€

โ€ขDusit Thani Bangkokโ€™s general manager, James Wilson, also shared that month-to-date occupancy has dipped 40 per cent from last year. โ€œWe do have one large international group in house at present and some small overseas groups arriving throughout the week, as well as FIT bookings. Our corporate accounts are still booking, although in reduced numbers,โ€ he said. Dusit Thani Bangkok is receiving more lunch business from local offices, including โ€œmarginal business from rally-goersโ€, Wilson revealed.

โ€ขDebrah Pascoe, Onyx Hospitality Groupโ€™s senior vice president sales and marketing, commented that while occupancy is lower than usual for this time of the year, the hotel is not lowering rates. โ€œOptimistically, our properties in resort locations are so far unaffected and a number of them are picking up last-minute bookings from guests diverting their travel from Bangkok, especially those within driving distance from the capital, namely Pattaya, Hua Hin and Koh Chang,โ€ she added.

โ€ขHotels located near the demonstration sites have rolled out discounts targeting local residents. Centara Hotels & Resorts has launched a Bangkok Shutdown package across its five Bangkok properties for this week, while Grande Centre Point Hotel Terminal 21 has a Thai Resident Special.

โ€ขโ€œThis (Bangkok Shutdown) promotion is not generating a huge volume increase, as most rally-goers still prefer to go home. However, weโ€™re seeing more rally-goers coming for meals and spa treatments for breaks or relaxation, particularly at Centara Grand,โ€ Centara Hotels & Resorts reported.

โ€ขSame-day booking app HotelQuickly appears to be an unexpected winner amid the crisis, recording a surge in bookings in Bangkok. Said COO Christian Mischler: โ€œNew member sign-ups in Thailand have more than tripled over the past few days; members using their phones in Thai language have increased dramatically since (last) weekend.โ€

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Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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