Hotel and airline operators have high hopes the upcoming Songkran celebration will revive sluggish tourism sentiment as the second wave of the pandemic wanes.
Thirayuth Chirathivat, chief executive of Centara Hotels and Resorts, said forward booking for the Songkran week is outstanding for the whole month, even though it pales in comparison to 2019 levels.
Bangkok, Pattaya, Hua Hin and beach destinations such as Phuket already received more than 70% forward booking.
He said those hotels might be fully booked between April 11-14, despite the lack of a subsidy campaign from the government which has yet to start the new phase.
Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, president of Bangkok Airways, said the extension of the Songkran holiday to six days will prompt local tourists to take more trips.
However, the load factor during Songkran is…
