Despite a robust performance during the Songkran holiday, hotels in Chiang Mai offered lower room rates than last year in a bid to draw last-minute domestic travellers, whose confidence was still shaken by last month's earthquake.
Paisarn Sukjarean, president of the Thai Hotels Association's upper northern chapter, said many Thais were still stunned by the quake that rocked Thailand and Myanmar last month, leading to a slower last-minute booking rate this year.
However, he said hotels ramped up occupancy rates to 85% from April 12-16, similar to last year.
Mr Paisarn said the difference for the Songkran holiday this year was that most hotels could not raise their room rates by 30%, or 800-1,200 baht, as they normally did in years past.
To maintain domestic demand, hotels hiked the rates by only 10% or 200-300 baht per room to accelerate bookings among local travellers, he said.
Mr Paisarn said hotels in Chiang Mai had been twice inspected by experts and officials after the quake to ensure guest safety.
Meanwhile, concerns over PM2.5 during the celebration did not impact tourism as much as last year because the air quality was much improved, he said.
The most critical concern now is the perception of traveller safety in Thailand among foreign markets, said Mr Paisarn.
He said the Chinese market in Chiang Mai has not recovered since the Chinese actor Wang Xing was deceived into working in a scam centre in Myanmar, which used Thailand as a transit hub.
Patsalin Swetarat, director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand's Chiang Mai office, said the province has been promoting itself as a destination for festivals and events this year under the "12 months, 12 themes" concept.
During the Songkran holiday between April 12-16, over 146,000 tourists visited Chiang Mai, of which 60% were Thai travellers. The festive event this year generated over 1.6 billion baht for the province.
Foreign tourists were mainly from South Korea and Europe, while Chinese still visited the province, but with lower numbers than in the past.
The average expenditure of a tourist in Chiang Mai tallied 4,600 baht per day this year.
Mrs Patsalin said Chiang Mai is scheduled to host the Thailand Travel Mart Plus, an annual business-to-business meeting event in June, promoting the province as a top traditional and cultural destination, as well as showcasing modern innovation and sustainability initiatives.
The event expects to welcome more than 500 attendees and 1,000 Thai tourism operators as sellers.