Goodbye to tourism

[Super Joe]

Calm down lads, calm down.

"Tourism hits 49 year low..." 49 years ago was 1960. I would be amazed if the actual tourist number then was over 50,000.

Quite right ofcourse Pete. The Bangkok Post (who rarely get anything right) revised the above article later in the day.
The statement was corrected to ...... "The biggest plunge in tourism growth in 49 years".

or it shows this monkey cant do maths and the monkeys that listened to this twaddle cant either.
For example, using the numbers above, Thai domestic tourism makes up 79% of last years tourism revenue......79% of the market....... O RILLY ?

International tourism revenue 540M and domestic tourist revenue 430M are ...... quite obviously ........ two different revenue entities.
I could murder a banana

SJ

[buksida]

Here's another update on the airport scam:

Travelers to Thailand have braved a variety of hazards in recent years but foreign governments are now warning about a new and different one: duty-free shopping at the airport.

Several European tourists say they were falsely accused of shoplifting at the Thai capital's main airport and some recount being taken to seedy motels where they were shaken down for thousands of dollars by a shady middleman.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/art ... AD99TTEDO1

[hhfarang]

prcscct wrote:
"Tourism hits 49 year low..." 49 years ago was 1960. I would be amazed if the actual tourist number then was over 50,000.
Quite right ofcourse Pete. The Bangkok Post (who rarely get anything right) revised the above article later in the day.
The statement was corrected to ...... "The biggest plunge in tourism growth in 49 years".

Yeah, I was wondering about that one. I'm guessing the first real mass of tourists showed up here 4 or 5 years later than that wearing (Army) green uniforms...

[valrhona]

People have short memory when it comes to tourism, frankly that little airport scam is about as relevant as a mosquito bite in the grand scheme of things...

Tourism has resisted plane crashes, tsunamis, countless government coups, last year's airport closures, several economic downturns, tourists being murdered, too many other scams to count and I could go on...

Yes it's too bad that all those things happen but at the end of the day, Thailand is a great place for a holiday, better than most so tourism will continue to grow in the long term unless there's a war or something absolutely catastrophic...

Tempest in a teapot...

[sandman67]

unless there's a war

which widely reported one would you like to choose from?

The stupid idiotic border spat with Cambodia, thats quietly escalating nicely into a full on diplomatic situation over drilling rights? Y'knw, that little spat that has a batallion of tanks lines up on each side of the line?

Or the ongoing border rumbles up North with Burma that has mortar shells falling on Thai border areas and a influx of refugees swarming over the border? Y'know....Burma.....that country the Brits ran, then gave back and watched as it turned into the enemy of the peaceful world....that one with the nuclear program thats been splattered across the worlds front pages. The one that hates Thailand......

Or perhaps the asymmetrical war come ethnic cleansing excersise down south with the occasional grand guignol massacre thrown in for laughs? The one thats cost the lives of over 90 teachers in 12 months?

Or perhaps you prefer your voilence domestic....how about the rumbles of a commie powered red stinky peon revolution on the streets of The Mango?

Or perhaps closer to home? Unresolved murder attempts and people still not arrested?

welcome to a world sans rosy specs

[valrhona]

My my... we have a very wide definition of war... I guess I'll have to declare war on my next door neighbor next time he plays loud music.

Yet throughout this apocalyptic mayhem which has been going on for years, tourism continues to grow... and life goes on

[Big Boy]

tourism continues to grow

Really? I thought that was the problem.

[caller]

tourism continues to grow

Really? I thought that was the problem.

I guess he means in the longer term, compared to say 30 years ago!

Even the Thais have admiited that tourism from abroad is way down and blame it on the many recent 'unrests'.

[valrhona]

Of course tourism is down... How can it not be?

Biggest economic crisis in years for a start which the thais have nothing to do with...

Not too many countries are reporting growth in tourism in 2009 so Thailand isn't exactly alone. Granted the recent events haven't helped but the country will rebound just like it has in the past...

[Super Joe]

Obviously tourists are down for 2009, global recession and added to by yellow/red shirt disturbances and the closure of the airport.
But Thailand has been written off many times over the previous 10 years (1998 to 2008), SARS & war on drugs human rights publicity 2003, bird flu & Tsunami 2004, troubles in South escalating and becoming international news 2005, coup with tanks on the street 2006, unstable government with multi PM changes 2007 to 2008 ........
and what has happened to tourism during those 10 years? almost doubled from 7.76 million visitors to 14.54 million/

Get's more international tourist time spent here than HK, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines etc, only Malaysia has slightly higher numbers (due to 50% popping over from Singapore), but Thailand takes more tourist Dollars than Malaysia.

Thailand's showed it's resiliance and proved if you have a quality product people will want it despite the negatives. As valrhona has said it'll take something really serious to stop the country being so popular, throwing stones at each other over a disputed Wat with Cambodia and not being able to buy lipstick in the duty free shop won't do it.

SJ

[valrhona]

And on a personal note, I don't even know of one person that had plans to go to Thailand this year and didn't go through with them. Anyone who's been here a few times knows very well that what makes this place wonderful for a holiday hasn't changed one bit and the other things are just minor annoyances that will have very little impact on their enjoyment(unless you're a clueless tourist caught by that silly airport scam). As a matter of fact, for many it's an extra incentive because they know that there will be good deals to be had...

[Big Boy]

And on a personal note, I don't even know of one person that had plans to go to Thailand this year and didn't go through with them. Anyone who's been here a few times knows very well that what makes this place wonderful for a holiday hasn't changed one bit and the other things are just minor annoyances that will have very little impact on their enjoyment(unless you're a clueless tourist caught by that silly airport scam). As a matter of fact, for many it's an extra incentive because they know that there will be good deals to be had...

That is the point. Regulars to Thailand will not have been put off travelling to Thailnd. The ones who are affected are the one-off package tourists, who probably spend (per day) an awful lot more than regular visitors.

My earlier response

Really? I thought that was the problem.

was purely in response to your statement

tourism continues to grow

and absolutely nothing else. I think you have since acknowledged that there is currently a downturn.

[Super Joe]

FYI:



SJ