Pattaya hotels saw some of their strongest occupancy rates of the year over the Buddhist holiday weekend with hoteliers hopeful that the new “Hot Deal” campaign will bring more guests.
Adsanee Intaring, marketing communications manager for the Avani Pattaya Resort, said 300 rooms were booked at an average rate of more than 2,000 baht a night. Customers mostly were Thai, although some stranded Chinese and European tourists checked in.
Suwannee Tripetchkul, general manager of the Flipper group of mid-range hotels, said occupancy rates over the weekend hit 90 percent across the entire chain, with nearly all bookings made by Thais.
Both hotel executives said they were hopeful that the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s “Pattaya Hot Deal” campaign will keep bookings strong, although Suwannee said TAT hasn’t explained it well to the public, leading to confusion.
The campaign allows people to purchase discount vouchers for Pattaya hotels, restaurants and attritions for up to 50 percent off normal prices on the Shopee online store. TAT subsidizes the businesses for the lost revenue. Vouchers can be redeemed from July 15-Dec. 31.
Adsanee said that while foreign tourists may not return any time soon, the Hot Deal promotion could relieve some of the financial pain that hoteliers have experienced this year.
