Additional holiday a boost for tourism

21 Mar 2015  2039 | World Travel News

BANGKOK  Travel firms are expecting a mini boom in outbound travel bookings, during the 1 May to 4 May extended holiday.
Friday 1 May is a national holiday (Labour Day, while the government announced, last month, 4 May would be an additional holiday to give Thais a four-day break from work.
The Thai Cabinet said the decision to create a long weekend holiday Friday to Monday, 1 to 4 May, was made to stimulate the economy through spending and promote tourism in the provinces.
But for wealthy Thais and the growing middle class, four days gives them an opportunity to travel overseas to their favourite destinations; Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. They can take a short break without having to use any days of their annual work leave. Low-cost airlines have made overseas travel for Thais affordable and a fare to Singapore is almost as cheap as a domestic fare.
inside no 10Tour operators say they expect travel bookings for short overseas holidays to peak in May just days before universities reopen for the first semester.
The Bank of Thailand confirmed that 4 May would be a holiday for all banks and financial institutions.
BOT said the additional holiday was appropriate to support the government’s policy to promote tourism and stimulate the country’s economy as a whole.
Bank branches that provide services in shopping malls, or department stores can opt to stay open, but they will have to compensate staff for working a national holiday.
The decision to create more long weekend breaks encourages Thais to travel domestically and this spreads tourism spending to secondary destinations.
The mega peak for travel will be during mid-April during the almost a week-long annual Songkran Festival.

sourced:ttrweekly.com 

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