The tourism sector is gearing up for an influx of overseas visitors as Chiang Mai Airport prepares to function round-the-clock from November. This move is anticipated to open up the northern area to extra worldwide tourists arriving on direct flights.
Sittipong Wongsomboon, basic manager of Northern Smile Travel, stated that the average resort occupancy rate for September had dipped to 30-35% from 70-80% in August, because of the slow period for tourism. He famous that the Chiang Mai market had tailored to focus on unbiased travellers post-pandemic, with a number of resorts adjusting their methods to secure better room charges despite the lowered number of vacationers.
Sittipong, who also based the Hotels in Chiang Mai group, revealed that round 35 boutique resorts situated in central Chiang Mai and related companies had joined forces to enhance their providers rather than choosing lower prices.
Their main target markets are predominantly travellers from Asia, especially those international locations that have direct flight connectivity to Chiang Mai Airport. These visitors can also contribute to the income of other provinces in the region.
To appeal to these travellers, member resorts of the group have set their room charges at round three,000 baht per night, which could rise to between 5,000-10,000 baht through the peak season, in comparison with the average market room rate of 800-900 baht within the province.
Sittipong said that travellers from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore led the market by way of resort spending. Some impartial Chinese vacationers are undeterred by the slow financial development in their nation.
The scenario has modified from earlier than the pandemic, once we had lots of tourists, however resorts competed for guests by cutting their prices.”
From November 1, Chiang Mai Airport is about to operate 24 hours a day, catering to international flights after midnight and early flights earlier than 6am.
Santisuk Klongchaiya, CEO of Thai AirAsia, mentioned that the airline is planning to increase worldwide flights to Chiang Mai this 12 months. Presently, Thai AirAsia has eight routes connecting the province to Hong Kong, Macau, Da Nang, Hanoi, Taipei, Singapore, and China’s Hangzhou and Beijing Daxing airports.
Santisuk stated that Chiang Mai has the potential to be an aviation hub connecting Northeast Asia, as it allows short-haul aircraft with lowered flight occasions to achieve more cities in China, Japan, and South Korea.
Chiang Mai serves because the second hub for Thai AirAsia, with Don Mueang airport being the first. Dark has stationed 5 aircraft at Chiang Mai airport, reported Bangkok Post.
With Thailand lately waiving visa necessities for the Chinese, there could be potential for local carriers to extend flights from Chinese cities to Chiang Mai.
Local carriers presently account for 40% of the whole number of seats for China routes, while Chinese airlines make up the remaining 60% because of their larger networks in China, Santisuk added.
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