Bangkok, Thailand – Data by SiteMinder, the world’s largest open hotel commerce platform, today reveals a much-needed wave of travellers is arriving at the doors of Thailand’s accommodation businesses during the Songkran Festival over the coming week.
SiteMinder’s World Hotel Index shows that hotel guest arrivals for the week of the Thai New Year holiday represent over a third (33.53 percent) of all hotel guest arrivals expected over the next 12 months. The spike in arrivals follows the government’s extension of the holiday, to six days, to stimulate nationwide tourism and accommodate those travelling across the country to visit their hometowns.
The wave of travellers has helped to accelerate Thailand’s hotel booking momentum. Since February 1, hotel bookings have risen from below 25 percent of 2019 levels, to almost 45 percent of 2019 levels.
“The steady rise of year-over-year hotel bookings in Thailand that we have seen due to the Songkran Festival has been very encouraging,” says Bradley Haines, Regional Vice President of Asia Pacific at SiteMinder. “It is pleasing to see the government actively creating an environment so encouraging of domestic travel. Until international travel meaningfully recommences, it is these types of events that will allow local hotels to continue to provide viable options for Thai domestic travellers in the months ahead.”
Thailand, which has historically relied on international travellers for approximately 70 percent of its booked hotel stays, has increasingly depended on domestic holidaymakers since the pandemic began. More than 86 percent of bookings made to Thai hotels in March were made by Thai locals, compared to 34 percent in April of 2019.
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In an age of rising choice and accessibility for curious travellers, SiteMinder exists to liberate hoteliers with technology that makes a world of difference. SiteMinder is the world’s largest open hotel commerce platform, ranked among technology pioneers for its smart and simple solutions that put hotels everywhere their guests are, at every stage of their journey. It’s this central role that has earned SiteMinder the trust of more than 35,000 hotels, across 160 countries, to generate in excess of 100 million reservations worth over US$35 billion in revenue for hotels each year.