BANGKOK, 20 August 2020: The Thai Hotels Association held its annual general meeting Tuesday and named Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi as its president for the next two years.
She will head a board of directors faced with the unenviable task of leading the country’s hotel industry through an unprecedented financial crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
THA confirmed the appointment on its Facebook page with the customary congratulations from other trade associations such as the Association of Thai Travel Agents.
Marisa who is also the managing director of Siam Hotels Group, was quoted by the Bangkok Post on Wednesday saying the government’s stimulus package to support hotels needed more attractive privileges.
The first phase of the programme enables Thai citizens to stay in registered hotels at popular destinations across the country, enjoying a 40% discount on the nightly rate. A government subsidy reimburses hotels for the discount.
However, the new THA president told the Bangkok Post the scheme due to enter its second phase should be expanded to include expatriate taxpayers resident in the country rather than just Thai citizens.
Reporting the programme has recorded a sluggish performance so far she said the project needed refreshing with more attractive privileges as locals were feeling the financial pinch as the economy contracted.
She recommends the subsidy should apply to a 50% discount rather than the current 40% to improve the package offer.
While tourism and hospitality sectors stall due to the closure of borders, there is plenty of evidence that shows expatriates working in other industries other than tourism are also suffering. Salary cuts of 25% to 50% are now routine measures for both local and expatriates in service industries. But the salary cuts extend to the usually robust construction business hitting the paycheques of engineers, architects and project managers as well as executives in the once-lucrative food and beverage industries. The fall-out from Covid-19 has spread far beyond tourism as the months go by with no sign of a timeframe for the reopening of borders.
Travel and hospitality industry executives claim there is a lack of clarity on reopening dates that range from November this year to March 2021, or later, which cripples efforts to prepare and execute business recovery plans.
