Half of Thailand’s motels could shut down by August
The Bank of Thailand (BOT) conducted a survey of hotels and announced that it expects the country’s third wave of coronavirus to bring hotel occupancy down to just 9 percent this month
- The survey found that hotel occupancy was around 18 percent last month and only half this month.
- Eighty percent of hotel operators say this third wave of COVID-19 is even worse than the second.
- Around 39 percent of the hotels are currently still open, but with less than 10 percent of their normal income.
The BOT said the survey found an occupancy rate of 18 percent in April and only 9 percent in May. At this rate, 47 percent of hotels in Thailand would cease operations within three months. Eighty percent of operators consider the current third wave to be more damaging than the second, which lasted from Christmas to the end of January.
With more than 51 percent of reservations canceled in April, the Songkran event, popular in Thailand, turned out to be far less successful than expected, according to a joint survey by the BOT-Thai Hotels Association. Currently, only 46 percent of the country’s hotels are normally open, 13 percent are temporarily closed and the others with limited opening times or capacities.
The joint survey by the BOT-Thai Hotels Association found that 51 percent of reservations were canceled in April, making Songkran far less successful than expected. In the meantime, around 39 percent of the hotels that were still open reported less than 10 percent of normal income and more than 25 percent of half normal income.
The THA has made repeated calls for government assistance, including wage subsidies for workers, debt moratoriums and tourism incentive plans to combat the effects of COVID-19.
