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THA bullish about last quarter
The Thai hotels Association (THA) is optimistic that the tourism
industry will pick up in the last quarter of 2008, which will help to
offset the slow growth in inbound tourism during the first half of 2008.
THA president, Prakit Chinamourpong, said Bangkok’s political
uncertainties and soaring fuel prices had caused a slow growth in the
number of visitor arrivals from Thailand’s key longhaul markets -
Europe, the US and Australia.
As a result, Prakit said hotels in Bangkok and key destinations had
recorded a poor growth in average occupancy in the first half of this
year. The average occupancy in five-star hotels in Bangkok from January
to June was 69.36 per cent, a 1.02 per cent growth over the same period
last year.
In June alone, key beach destinations such as Pattaya and Phuket
reported poor average occupancy of 47.19 per cent (a drop from 2007’s
47.21 per cent) and 50 per cent (a drop from 2007’s 55 per cent),
respectively. Meanwhile, Hua Hin suffered a deeper plunge of 10 per
cent, bringing the average occupancy down to between 35 to 40 per cent.
However, Prakit was optimistic aggressive promotions by Thai hotels
aimed particularly at the Asian markets would help boost the number of
arrivals during the high season. (TTG)
Dusit hotel welcomes Chinese travel students
Photo shows students from Burapha University
after completing their hotel job observation at Dusit Thani Pattaya on
Monday, July 21. They were exchange students from China majoring in
Tourism and Hotel Management. They are seen here with (left) Thanatorn
Phongsiri, HR manager and (right) Waran Chalermrittichai, Director of
Administration, Dusit Thani Pattaya.
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