RATCHAPRASONG OFFERS SHOPPING THERAPY

Gaysorn’s Pure Reward campaign aims to soothe shoppers, says Ms Satima (right).

Major shopping malls in the Ratchaprasong shopping district launched marketing strategies to lure back shoppers who shied away during the floods.

Chai Srivikorn, president of the Ratchaprasong Square Trade Association (RSTA), said the decoration budget for retailers and hoteliers was increased to over 10 million baht, up from 8 million last year, to boost shopping sentiment.

Apart from the New Year Countdown, many activities were added such as concerts and beer gardens in new locations. The RSTA Winter Sales will run from Dec 1 to Jan 31, 2012.

Customers can combine their shopping bills spent in RSTA member stores over one day to redeem special gifts including a round-trip ticket to Hong Kong.

Satima Tanabe, deputy general manager of Gaysorn Land Asset Management, the operator of Gaysorn mall, said the flood has traumatised shoppers. Its new festive campaign called Pure Reward launched last week attempts to offer shopping therapy.

Traffic at its complex dropped by over 15% in the first three weeks of November due to the floods. Over the first 10 months, its traffic rose by 15% year-on-year. It expects 30% growth of traffic in 2011.

Many countries have eased travel warnings to Thailand and Gaysorn expects the occupancy rate of hotels near Ratchaprasong will bounce back to 75-80% in December, up from 55% in November.

"Foreign tourists, especially from China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan and South Korea are coming back," she said.

Central Pattana will hold its Christmas tree lighting and the Bangkok Countdown 2012 at CentralWorld, while Amarin Plaza will spend 8-10 million baht for Amarin Sweet Land from Dec 2 to Jan 10 on lighting decoration and sale prices.

The number of customers visiting Amarin Plaza during the floods declined by 30%, and has just started to pick up early last week. It expects daily traffic to recover to 40,000 by early December.