PHUKET: The five-day Songkran holiday is expected to generate about 3 billion baht in revenue from tourist spending on this island province.
The forecast was made by Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Phuket Office director Nanthasiri Ronnasiri yesterday.
She said 70,000 rooms were available for booking by tourists, or about 70% of the total number in the province. The average hotel room occupancy rate is currently 44.5%.
Ms Nanthasiri predicted room occupancy would increase to 60% during the holiday period extending from April 13-17, as many domestic travellers tend to book rooms at the last minute.
The average stay during the festival is expected to be 2.49 nights per person.
About 188,200 Thai and foreign tourists are forecast to visit Phuket during the long holiday. They are projected to generate revenue of 3.24 billion baht, she said.
Hotel bookings are generally high for the nights of April 13 to April 15, with most rooms booked for the first two nights.
Ahead of the holiday, some hotels are already reporting an occupancy rate of 80%, particularly in popular tourist hotspots like Patong, Kamala, Surin, Kata and Karon beaches, Ms Nanthasiri added.
She further mentioned that the TAT would work with both the public and private sectors in Phuket to organise traditional water festival activities on April 11 and 12.