In an effort to market their products and services during times with closed borders the hospitality industry in Thailand has taken to local travel fairs in the big shopping malls to generate revenue.
While there are some excellent deals available some travel and hospitality providers have also made offers available that aren’t very attractive, even higher priced than those available online.
In fact there is barely a weekend where you can go to any Bangkok shopping mall and there isn’t a large show going on in the event area with a collection of booths that are selling travel services.
Over the last year or so there must have been a good twenty of these events and I did manage to get some very decent offers there. Sometimes they are better than those available online (such as Megatix), sometimes identical but you can try and negotiate a better, confirmed upgrade with the sales representatives of a particular hotel. They are quite flexible right now if it means then can sell a few more rooms.
Last month I purchased a midweek package at the Peninsula Bangkok that was truly spectacular value with a price of 3,600 Baht net for a balcony room including breakfast, 2 buffet dinners and 800 Baht hotel credit.
Another great deal was for the new Four Points Phuket Patong Beach which sold vouchers at this event at 1,199 Baht net/night for which all Marriott Bonvoy benefits will apply (points, breakfast amenity, upgrade).
I purchased a dozen of these vouchers which are only available at the travel show. I retained the contact of the sales agent so in case I myself or anyone wants to buy more of these I can contact them while this offer is around, obviously it can be withdrawn anytime. If you want to secure any of those (serious requests only) within the next few weeks/months send me an email if and I’ll forward you the Phone Nr/Line ID.
A friend of mine bought thirty of these vouchers as it’s even cheaper than Megatix under current offers. We’re talking US$38 per night, incredible value for this beachfront hotel.
As so often it’s paramount to know the prices that the market currently provides in and out otherwise the vendors can take advantage of you.
One example was the sales stand for Club Marriott, the dining club for Marriott Thailand. They advertised their membership with a booklet of various vouchers including a free night at any participating hotel in Thailand. When I probed about the W Koh Samui the representative admitted that while it’s possible to book it, their entire capacity for these Club rate booking has been used up until December 2021. And that under the current conditions (dead tourism market). What a scam, needless to say I didn’t buy it.
Another Marriott in Bangkok sold their spa services at a 20% higher price than it’s being offered on a flyer at the same property I visited just days earlier.
Conclusion
Hotels are now trying to push a lot of sales through direct marketing and visibility on said travel shows. This past weekend there were three travel fairs in Bangkok and the big hotels had representatives at all three of them. In the very least two for the smaller ones.
I think the best deal here was the Four Points Phuket and the Peninsula Bangkok. I’ll keep buying and using these deals for as long as they’re available but at the same time I’ll watch the market closely to make sure I always find the best value.
