Pattaya, Thailand-
The advisor of the Pattaya Business and Tourism Association, Sinchai Wattanasartsathorn, says Indian tourists continue to drive the Pattaya economy and that the current holiday weekend in Pattaya is seeing 80-90 percent hotel room occupancy.
Sinchai, who was also the runner-up for Pattaya Mayor earlier this year, says that Indian tourists are the main foreign arrivals and main drivers of the economy in Pattaya currently. This is especially true in the hotel and tourist attraction sector, both popular with Indian tourists.
Sinchai also said that the current five-day long holiday weekend is seeing 80-90 percent hotel room occupancy at hotels across Pattaya, driven by domestic Thai tourists, marathon participants, and Indian tourists.
Sinchai complemented Pattaya City officials on the return of the Pattaya marathon, which has brought thousands of visitors to the city this weekend, and urged Pattaya City to continue to hold events nearly every single weekend to drive tourism and restore the economy battered by two years of Covid-19 restrictions, closures, and lockdowns.
Next month, Pattaya holds the first music festival in almost a year every single weekend, and this is also expected to drive significant tourism traffic, mostly from domestic tourists.
Sinchai expressed concern for the new highly transmissible sub-variants of Covid-19 like B.A. .5 and said that while health authorities must monitor the situation and people must keep up their guard that lockdowns, business closures, and restrictions were not the answer to solving the problem.
Tourism leaders across Pattaya have also called for more Indian themed festivals, restaurants, events, and attractions to better serve the large number of Indian tourists arriving. This comes as more discos and nightlife venues specifically aimed at Indian tourists, like the new Jannaat nightclub on Walking Street, open and are packed every night.
