Historic Bangkok Flooding Hurts Hoteliers

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According to data from STR Global, the situation continues to deteriorate for hoteliers in Bangkok as floodwaters begin to infiltrate the city and surrounding areas.

During the first few weeks of historic flooding across Thailand, Bangkok's hotel industry didn't experience major declines in terms of occupancy and rate. In fact, until the beginning of the week when the flood waters reached the capital, daily occupancy levels remained around the 65-percent mark. Average room rate (ADR) has held fairly close to the same level as the previous year with a month-to-27 October ADR of THB 2,980 (compared to THB 2,977 month-to-date in 2010).

The unrelenting waters have since negatively impacted seven of 50 Bangkok districts. The capital's second airport has closed, and several governments have warned its citizens against all but essential travel to the country. Occupancy levels started to decline from Sunday, 23 October onwards and were followed soon after by a decline in ADR.

2011 up to this point had been characterized by recovery as hotel performance bounced back from last year's political protests.

"As our thoughts go with those affected directly by the flooding in Bangkok and the region, we also recognize it will be important that visitors return as quickly as possible to the region as a way to support the recovery efforts", said Elizabeth Randall, managing director at STR Global.
 

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