From theage.com.au December 5, 2008

With thousands of tourists awaiting seats on coveted flights from Thailand after a crippling airport blockade, hotels are slashing prices to attract stranded passengers and make up lost income.

More than 100 flights were due to leave Bangkok’s main airport on Thursday after anti-government protesters ended an eight-day siege, but it will take days to clear the backlog of 350,000 passengers.

The five-star Amari Watergate Hotel in Bangkok had dropped its room rate from 8000 baht to 4500 baht (A$348 to $195) for stranded travellers.

“The offer is only available to those who are supposed to depart but cannot catch their flight,” front office supervisor Yongyan Mankhamsri told said.

At Thailand’s tallest hotel, the towering 88-storey Baiyoke Sky Hotel in downtown Bangkok, room rates have been slashed from 5500 baht to 3300 baht.

It said it was at full occupancy since dropping its prices.

Other hotels had already found extra bookings from among the stranded tourists, with the five-star Four Seasons in Bangkok reporting increased sales.

“Today we have additional bookings from people waiting for the airport,” said duty manager Sermsak Khampitoon.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) told Thai media Thursday that the numbers of international tourists was now expected to be half the previously projected 15 million next year.

It will be a big blow to the Thai economy, which relies principally on tourism and exports.

The TAT said it would be launching an advertising campaign called “Apologies Thailand” in an attempt to woo disgruntled tourists back to the kingdom.

Meanwhile, other hotels were attempting to lure in more domestic bookings to make up for cancellations by international tourists.

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel on the banks of Bangkok’s scenic Chao Phraya River has nearly halved the price of an A$603 room in its river wing — but only to those with Thai citizenship, staff said.

Other hotels are keeping prices steady, instead relying on the normally lucrative Christmas and New Year period to bring in seasonal bookings — assuming flights are back to normal.

The Thai Hotels Association said businesses were pursuing different strategies to sell rooms during the downturn.

“It depends on the hotel, it depends on location, it depends on which part of the hotel it is,” associate manager Sakkarin Chorsawai said.

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