What will happen to hotel/restaurant/bar prices?

[stattointhailand]

Following on from the flight prices thread, what are people expecting to happen to hotel/restaurant & bar prices when the lockdowns/curfews end?
10 or 15 years ago I'm pretty sure that most would be increasing their prices to try and make up for the previously lost revenue, but it has been noticeable in recent years that many businesses seem to be offering discounts and special offers to try and attract customers.
Just prior to the troubles I was in Jomtien for a few days and was surprised at how low the hotel room cost (about 20% less than the same hotel last year), many restaurants had "blackboard daily specials" in addition to their menu, and virtually every bar had "happy hours" lasting most or all day with beer at B45 or B50 just to get punters through the door.
It will be interesting to see which options they go for when allowed to re open

[tamada]

I don't see prices rising to make up for lost revenue. I've never heard of such a business strategy being broadly adopted. What's gone is gone. More likely that staff and services will be trimmed drastically for the same price as before. No inclusive breakfast offers. Buffet instead of a la carte. Room mini bars empty or removed. No complimentary anything. Charge for Wi-Fi. No spare key cards to leave the room air con running while out. Local TV channels only. Carry your own bags.

[fredwilliams]

Open air restaurants were due to re-open tomorrow (Monday Apr 26), but this might be delayed by a day or two because Sat & Sun are the weekend/days off for govt.

Vietnam officially ended its lockdown on Friday... open air restaurants now permitted to open.

Disagreers; go and wrench some more blood from that shoulder-chip stone. There is a drop left. And it's got your names on it.

[parrot]

Just for perspective.......the average price for a bowl of noodle soup or similar Thai lunch meal has ranged between 30-60 Baht for more than a few years.....you want more than a stool or a hefty bowl or a good array of veggies or AC, you'll pay more, obviously. The price has remained stable over the years despite a slow but steady increase in price of cooking gas and other supplies. In the past year or so, I've asked my 23-year noodle soup dealer when the next price rise is coming.......competition and some government controls seems to be stemming that thus far. But, if and when we're allowed to return to Udon, if the price of my daily fix goes up to 70 Baht for a jumbo bowl of Viet soup, I won't chalk it up to the pandemic......more likely, the price rise has been coming for some time.
If you're living on western food in Thailand, all bets are off. But for Thai food, I don't see much of an increase, other than what you'd expect after a few years of pretty stable diet prices.

[Khun Paul]

The price is in the lap of the Gods as it were, however I expect to see an increase in proving health preventative measures demanded by the Government in place to ensure continual Social distancing etc . This course will be at a cost , therefore I expect some sort of increase .

[vincemunday]

In the big tourist resorts they’re going to struggle, I don’t think the tourist trade will be back any time soon which i think will result in a lot more hotels and restaurants going bust. If and when it starts to trickle back i reckon it will be mainly Chinese and from what I read they tend to book into all inclusive Chinese owned hotels without spending much locally which won’t be helping the restaurants and bars out much. Should they decided to raise prices too much that’s only going to hinder them more, people back home are already looking at Vietnam, Cambodia etc because the strength of the baht is making a visit here expensive by comparison.

The local areas have been struggling for a while anyway, I doubt they’ll see much by way of improvement particularly if they are aimed at the farang trade, I can’t see tourism booming in Udon for a while, a long while. A lot of farang who live here were already griping that their pensions are worth a lot less than it used to be so to raise prices might prove to be a poor strategy. Businesses that are aimed at Thai will fare a bit better IMO, before the virus they were the busiest venues anyway and I think they’ll fare as well as they did before.

All in all I think it’s looking a bit glum for the tourist trade and restaurants and bars aimed at farang.

[Khun Paul]

Lets us try to be a bit positive. Many Thais eat out because it is cheaper and easier than cooking at home, hence the rise in Temporary markets and walking through the average Permanent market, food is available in plentiful supply ( if you really want to buy it ) , so why cook ?
Farang places and those I know well will continue to do well I am sure, most have a good pool of dedicated patrons and will suffer only a little, the value of pensions was a source of problems when the Pound lost 40% of its value but generally that was few years ago and since then most I know manage fairly well. What has helped is the rise of Foreign based food places, that you can purchase everything from the humble Scotch egg to full blown steaks and everything in-between.

Good clean places with excellent menus competitively priced will do okay, but some Thai places that ramp up the prices because they serve Farang food will do badly . It is all, in reality about, Cleanliness, Good well cooked and priced food and Customer service which will determine those who stand or fall .

[saint]

Its all speculation at the moment . What i have learned over the years is prices go up a lot more frequently than they go down . So prices will im sure increase , sometime .
After the strong baht people manage because theyve cut back on expenses . Leisure , being a variable cost and not fixed , is one of the first to be cut . Hence the bars in town and restaurants before the crisis were no where near as busy as they were say four years ago .
Folks on fixed incomes , cannot pluck money from trees , despite what the locals think .
Those with private pensions or living from investments may suffer even more as the world economies struggle to get back to some form of reality , if they ever do . Bearing in mind we were on the edge of a world downturn before the Chinese unleashed this havoc .

[vincemunday]

I don’t agree with you at all Paul, most farang places weren’t doing very well at all, one owner described his bar as a hobby not a business, another said he would survive as long as he did okay one day a week, there are maybe one or two that are thriving but generally speaking they are treading water at best. A lot of Thai orientated bars and restaurant are heaving, I’m not sure you would frequent any of them because they don’t serve farang food and some don’t particularly like farang drinking there but these aren’t casual let’s go for a quick bite to eat customers, they go to bars with live music, fresh cooked food bought to the table but mainly it’s about the beer and friends, one we go to called Yok Yai would take more money in one evening than most farang bars would take in a week. I agree with Saint, many farang I speak to have cut back on “leisure” to make their incomes spread a bit further so they aren’t frequenting the bars and restaurant like they used to, one other point, someone who goes into a bar, buys a 180 baht meal and drinks a coke or water will not keep a bar profitable.

[Drunk Monkey]

Its all speculation at the moment . What i have learned over the years is prices go up a lot more frequently than they go down . So prices will im sure increase , sometime .
After the strong baht people manage because theyve cut back on expenses . Leisure , being a variable cost and not fixed , is one of the first to be cut . Hence the bars in town and restaurants before the crisis were no where near as busy as they were say four years ago .
Folks on fixed incomes , cannot pluck money from trees , despite what the locals think .
Those with private pensions or living from investments may suffer even more as the world economies struggle to get back to some form of reality , if they ever do . Bearing in mind we were on the edge of a world downturn before the Chinese unleashed this havoc .

Agree Doug .. none of us have a crystal ball and time only will tell how things will pan out ... but im sure there will be some places that never re open most being expat orientated venues as the Thai places have a higher customer footfall , i cant see many Thai places folding over this but many "falang" bars etc will.

Prices may rise but venue operators may then offer specials and promotions offsetting the price increase ..but IMO really its too early to guess what will happen in the different sectors of the entertainment market.

DM

[tamada]

The farang-centric bar and resto business has been a dead horse in Udon well before the Chinese flu was invented.

The rent-free "hobby" bars set up in the driveways of villas in certain villages will prevail only as long as the owners and patrons are still alive and kicking. Anything down town? Forget it. Soi Sampan RIP.

[Drunk Monkey]

The farang-centric bar and resto business has been a dead horse in Udon well before the Chinese flu was invented.

The rent-free "hobby" bars set up in the driveways of villas in certain villages will prevail only as long as the owners and patrons are still alive and kicking. Anything down town? Forget it. Soi Sampan RIP.

BLOODY HELL Tam ..we agree on something .. lets get a plaque made !!

[tamada]

^ Let's celebrate! What time should I come over?

[Drunk Monkey]

^ Let's celebrate! What time should I come over?

On my NEXT birthday .. ALL the beers free .... April 23 rd 2021 !!! .. essential travel and emojis only Tam ..

[papafarang]

Not one single customer I know is missing the city bar scene , as for prices in bars restaurants prices simply go with inflation . I have seem marginally higher prices when shopping but not enough to panic about. Totally agree with Tam .Also grab will have changed a few things too. People will have discovered new menus from other places or now people can just order rather than dragging themselves into the city . We have two places within 200m of our place one doing local delivery, the other using grab . Both seem to be doing ok. Habits will have changed . Owning a bar was hard work ,even after this mess has cleared I can't see bell ringing 2 week millionaires being about

[Drunk Monkey]

Whilst i agree in part Dean many will be fed up with staying at home and also delivery foam box food so might see a small surge in going out as things ease .. alas this not in the falang joints ie Soi Samphan etc .. they have a hard time coming and many wont survive if they re open at all .. Thai places will be ok for sure as their customer base is huge and diverse.

Im missing my Accoustic Restaurant Chang pro 3 bigguns for 200bt , i saw the owner in 7 next door n hes hoping to open 1st May and keeping the pro on is good news.

DM

[Khun Paul]

I was talking about Restaurants not the BAR scene that served food. Which I let go some years ago, due in part as zero interest, never liked bars in the UK, tried it here, rather a non-starter for me . Many bars I am sure will go to the wall, Most farang based restaurants will I am sure survive. but then others will say differently as usual, knowing far more about other people than I do. I just observe and ask questions .

[RLTrader]

A little off topic, maybe, but was informed today that my brand of beer at my underground supplier had gone up so much, that she left without any and that Regency had gone up 10฿

[Barney]

What a dismal half glass empty lot you are.
Seems that some would be happy with others failure.
When this Carona is over just get off your ars. And go out and help the farang operations a little bit.
Couple of beers and a small feed is all it takes to help.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[maaka]

Soi Sampan will survive, as long as horny old fellas like you lot keep sniffing out Thai babes..
I will be back there to support my local hotel, and eat my cottage pie at the Lucky Green Country place