KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 — Malaysians were cancelling planned trips to Songkhla and other parts of southern Thailand that were flooding, hitting businesses in the region hard.

According to The Bangkok Post, hotel and tour reservations have seen sharp drops for this weekend and the next.

Songchai Mungprasithichai, president of the Songkhla Tourism Promotion Association, attributed the cancellations to the massive floods in southern Thailand and severe weather affecting many states in Malaysia, including Kelantan.

"Both tour groups and individual tourists cancelled their trips to Hat Yai during this weekend and next weekend.

"Even though Hat Yai was not affected, surrounding districts were inundated,” he was quoted as saying.

The floods disrupted travel plans for tourists entering via border checkpoints, with some flights also cancelled, causing tour groups and individual visitors to cancel their trips to Hat Yai.

Before the floods, Hat Yai had seen a significant influx of Malaysian tourists, with occupancy rates reaching 70 per cent during weekends, but the ongoing floods in neighbouring districts are now affecting tourism.

Tourism operators remain hopeful that the flooding situation will improve soon, allowing the market to recover in time for the December festive season.