Hotels along the Chao Phraya River are expecting a significant uptick in bookings for December and the New Year celebration as tourism resumes and Thai K-pop star Lalisa is booked to perform at Iconsiam's countdown event.
Kullapranee Sawareephol, vice-president of commercial sales at the Salil Hotel Riverside Bangkok, said foreign tourists are keen to visit during the cool season for the holidays.
Salil Hotel attended the World Travel Market 2024 in London last week, using the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) pavilion to target British, European and other long-haul markets.
Revenue is growing for the hotel this year compared with 2023, attributed to higher arrivals as Thailand is predicted to welcome 35-36 million tourists in 2024.
Ms Kullapranee said the "Amazing Thailand Countdown 2025" at Iconsiam, which booked Lalisa as a headliner, has helped to lift its forward bookings for December, which are growing faster than expected.
She said bookings from both domestic and foreign guests helped the hotel secure an occupancy rate of 75% already for December.
The average occupancy should continue to rise and reach 85-90%, with hotels likely fully booked during the New Year holiday, said Ms Kullapranee.
To attract more guests, Salil Hotel plans to feature concerts during the holiday.
As part of "Thailand Winter Festival 2024" hosted by the TAT, an illumination show called Vijit Chao Phraya along the river is scheduled from mid-November until mid-December.
She said the riverside area has the potential to become a luxury resort hub in Bangkok because it can host exclusive events.
The government should promote more events and celebrations along the river during the year to distribute income, not focusing exclusively on the year-end holiday period, said Ms Kullapranee.
Many hotels and retail properties have fully-equipped facilities, while the riverside area features historical and cultural attractions for sightseeing, she said.
However, safety and security for tourists needs to be upgraded, as well as overpriced taxi services, which are regularly reported by many hotel guests, said Ms Kullapranee.
Opened two years ago, the Salil Hotel Riverside Bangkok calls itself a luxury lifestyle hotel, featuring 235 rooms plus wellness and meeting facilities. The hotel operates restaurants and shops, such as Brix Dessert Bar, Rintaro and Kanvela, to earn revenue from visitors, apart from in-house guests.
Most customers are from Asia, especially China, Taiwan and South Korea, with an average length of stay of 3-4 days.