As a general election draws near, provincial economies are expected to receive a windfall from voters returning home to cast their ballots on May 14, after seeing political parties make more upcountry campaigning trips this month.
The Election Commission revealed a total of 4,781 constituency candidates nationwide, from 70 political parties, were standing in the election.
However, most tourism operators are not hopeful that an election will bring about much change as local residents are now mostly already working in their hometowns.
ISAN HOMECOMING
Poppon Kasemsan Na Ayutthaya, president of the Tourism Council of Khon Kaen, said 60% of visitors during the election week would be locals returning to Khon Kaen or nearby provinces.
As this group would likely stay with their family members at home, only 40% would be tourists who would stay at hotels, said Mr Poppon.
Moreover, the mid-May election is so close to the recent Songkran holiday and upcoming Coronation Day on May 4 that the number of visitors from other provinces might slow down with an average occupancy of around 60% during the election week, less than the weekend holiday which typically closed at 70-80%.
Mr Poppon said tourism operators in Khon Kaen have higher hopes for the Mice (meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions) segment as the province is the key destination in the Northeast for business trips.
The Mice segment in Khon Kaen has already recovered, except with regard to meetings and incentives from the government sector, said Mr Poppon.
To accelerate the growth of this sector, Mr Poppon said the new government should urgently develop infrastructure to bring more leisure and business tourists to the city.
Mass transport systems such as high speed trains, motorways and more international flights to Khon Kaen Airport from Vietnam and China would also help generate more business travellers.
MALAYSIAN HOLIDAY
Songchai Mungprasithichai, president of the Songkhla Tourism Promotion Association, said he did not expect significant travel growth related to the general election, since most locals already reside and work in the area.
Mr Songchai said Songkhla might instead gain more Malaysian tourists -- its major market -- between the last week of April and early May, thanks to their school holidays.
He said Hat Yai in Songkhla is a top destination for Malaysian tourists who want food-related experiences.
Most of them enter via the Sadao immigration checkpoint and likely choose Hat Yai as their weekend destination on a regular basis. The majority, or around 70%, were tour groups, he added.
Mr Songchai said the average occupancy rate should reach 70-80% during Malaysia's school holidays compared to a normal weekend, when the rate typically stands at less than 60%.
However, the province has realised it has been overly dependent on Malaysian tourists, and would attract relatively less demand from local visitors due to high domestic travel costs.
Mr Songchai said the new government and local administrator should help to tackle high airfares and create tourism attractions in the city.
LOWER-THAN-EXPECTED SEASON
La-iad Bungsrithong, board adviser at the Thai Hotels Association, expects a tourism slowdown in Chiang Mai and the Northern region during election week as most locals already live and work there.
Spending by political parties during the campaigning period this month did not help increase much revenue for the hotel sector as most of them took a one-day trip.
Mrs La-iad said the low season in this region has been heavily affected by PM2.5 air pollution, which has not improved.
Local travellers with high spending power from other cities had shifted their plans to outbound trips or headed to beach destinations in the South.
Mrs La-iad said the average occupancy rate in May and June is expected to be only 45%, which would be lower than the same period in 2019.
The slow growth would continue from the Songkran holiday as sentiment this year was hammered by the air pollution problem.
Mrs La-iad said the government could help local businesses by increasing public spending via governmental meetings and incentive trips to regional cities such as Chiang Mai during the second and third quarters.
