Neat Interactive was founded in Phuket, Thailand in 2012. In 2020, we are returning to Phuket with our fourth branch outside of Bangkok (Hong Kong and Singapore being the other two). With the current COVID-19 situation, Phuket hotels are hurting. According to Jasper Palmqvist of STR, Phuket hotel occupancy is -90% Y-O-Y, yes that is minus ninety-percent. According to Nikhom Jensiriratanakorn from Horwath HTL, July 2020 hotel occupancy was 8%. Tourism in Thailand is now completely dependent on the domestic Thai and Expat market and they are not going to Phuket. The main source of domestic tourism is from Bangkok, and Bangkokians are traveling driving distance, meaning that markets like Pattaya and Hua Hin are benefiting much more than island destinations requiring flights from Bangkok.
What does this mean for Phuket Hotels?
It means that Phuket hotels need to increase their outreach to Thais and Expats. The 56th Thai Tiew Thai this weekend (3-6 Sep) in Bangkok will be a good start. But beyond TTT, Phuket hotels will need to reach out to the domestic market, directly.
What do we think?
Email Marketing: We think that hotels need to reach out to the domestic market directly, making use of their email database through e-mail marketing and social media marketing. The better organized a hotel's email database, the more effective it can be. If it is segmented between domestic stays and international stays, then even better. If a hotel has neglected its CRM, now is better than never in addressing it.
LINE Marketing: With almost everyone in Thailand having a personal LINE account (or two), a LINE official account can go a long way in building a domestic audience for the hotel. Phuket hotels can promote special LINE-only packages, local events that could be a draw for domestic tourists, Spa and F&B offerings and more.
Social Media Marketing: Use of Facebook and Instagram remains extremely high in Thailand. Continuing to actively and professionally maintain social media channels for the domestic market is important. Not only with content, but making use of the tools available in Facebook Ads for targeting specific audiences who have engaged with your hotels in the past, visited your website, watched your videos or sent an inquiry.
About Neat Interactive
Since 2012 we have worked with dozens of hotels in Phuket and Phang Nga. Phuket and Phang Nga clients have included Banyan Tree Phuket, The Surin Phuket, Andara, The Naka Phuket, Four Points by Sheraton Phuket Patong, The Nai Harn, Pullman Phuket Arcadia Naithon Beach, Casa de La Flora, La Flora Khao Lak and many others. We not only offer domestic marketing services, we are also specialists in Chinese digital marketing as well as Fliggy's first Taobao Partner. For inquiries, please contact us directly at info(at)neatinteractive(dot)com (written so to avoid spam) or fill in the contact form here.
