Thai's have been travelling abroad for ages now. I know Thai's that have been as far afield as Europe and Australia. Japan and Korea are also popular, but for many, cheaper, and more local trips are the norm. I think many Bkk weekenders can fly when and where they want without worrying too much about currency values.
Thailand tourism situation
Re: Thailand tourist slump continues
Talk is cheap
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europtimiste
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Re: Thailand tourist slump continues
This topic should be renamed: Arrivals up.
I see more tourists in Bangkok as well in HH.
I see more tourists in Bangkok as well in HH.
Re: Thailand tourist slump continues
Govt unveils 'one-stop shop' app
A new mobile phone application that was designed to be a one-stop shop for tourists planning to visit Thailand was unveiled on Wednesday.
Dubbed "TAGTHAi" by its developers at Kasikorn Business Technology Group, the app will be operated by Thai Digital Platform Social Enterprise Co.
The app offers access to services provided by 20 state agencies and 28 private companies -- including the Tourism and Sports Ministry, Airports of Thailand, Thai Hotels Association (THA), Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways and Thai AirAsia -- thus allowing tourists to plan their trip in advance, book flights and reserve their accommodation in the country.
"Efficient cooperation between the public and private sector will help ensure that Thailand's tourism sector will continue to expand," said Digital Economy and Society Minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta at the app's launch.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/17 ... p-shop-app
Yep, reinventing Tripadvisor will surely get them all flooding back.
A new mobile phone application that was designed to be a one-stop shop for tourists planning to visit Thailand was unveiled on Wednesday.
Dubbed "TAGTHAi" by its developers at Kasikorn Business Technology Group, the app will be operated by Thai Digital Platform Social Enterprise Co.
The app offers access to services provided by 20 state agencies and 28 private companies -- including the Tourism and Sports Ministry, Airports of Thailand, Thai Hotels Association (THA), Thai Airways, Bangkok Airways and Thai AirAsia -- thus allowing tourists to plan their trip in advance, book flights and reserve their accommodation in the country.
"Efficient cooperation between the public and private sector will help ensure that Thailand's tourism sector will continue to expand," said Digital Economy and Society Minister Buddhipongse Punnakanta at the app's launch.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/17 ... p-shop-app
Yep, reinventing Tripadvisor will surely get them all flooding back.
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
Re: Thailand tourist slump continues
Be interesting to see how long before someone in the govt thinks it would be a good idea for the new app to turn on location and send tracking messages back to TAT (or whoever). Wouldn't need to get tourists to buy a special sim card then !
Re: Thailand tourist slump continues
I've often said I judge the tourist situation in Hua Hin by the number abreast tourists are walking up and down Soi 94. It was 6 abreast Monday night, which indicates about 67%, so not too bad for mid-November.
Party house 2 doors away has been at full capacity for weeks now also, so another good sign. Predominantly French occupants, although Chinese this week.
Party house 2 doors away has been at full capacity for weeks now also, so another good sign. Predominantly French occupants, although Chinese this week.
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Re: Thailand tourist slump continues
Was in Phuket from Friday until today. We did a few touristy things and, while busy, not crowded. Seemed like 90% Chinese. Those Chinese Ladies can be cute, but so white I think they would glow in the dark.
We stayed on the north end at Marriott and roamed the resort and Anantara next door. Both places also 90% Chinese. Busy but not near full (both are huge resorts though).
We stayed on the north end at Marriott and roamed the resort and Anantara next door. Both places also 90% Chinese. Busy but not near full (both are huge resorts though).
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Re: Thailand tourist slump continues
The 6 abreast were most certainly from the West.
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Re: Thailand tourist slump continues
I have been spending quite a bit of time in Bkk recently and I can't say that I notice it being overrun by tourists. The big stores in particular are suffering, not at weekends, but from a lack of tourists generally (my other half is in accounting at one of the main groups head office).
The only exception to that, and admittedly it was a weekend, was a trip to the Golden Mount, which seemed to have been invaded by - wait for it - Burmese! Bus after bus of them and not tourists from their home Country, but from those generally young Burmese working here doing the job's Thai's don't want to. It seems they had all saved up to have a day visiting some of the sights.
My sister and BIL stayed in one of those So Sofitel places, this one in Sathon overlooking Lumpini Park, After returning from a trip to CM, they were given a free upgrade which doesn't happen if a hotel is full. They said that whilst there was always a fair smattering of people there, they didn't think it was anywhere near full.
As an aside, I'd recommend the rooftop bar/food place there which overlooks the park and Bkk beyond. It was good and the views were stunning.
The only exception to that, and admittedly it was a weekend, was a trip to the Golden Mount, which seemed to have been invaded by - wait for it - Burmese! Bus after bus of them and not tourists from their home Country, but from those generally young Burmese working here doing the job's Thai's don't want to. It seems they had all saved up to have a day visiting some of the sights.
My sister and BIL stayed in one of those So Sofitel places, this one in Sathon overlooking Lumpini Park, After returning from a trip to CM, they were given a free upgrade which doesn't happen if a hotel is full. They said that whilst there was always a fair smattering of people there, they didn't think it was anywhere near full.
As an aside, I'd recommend the rooftop bar/food place there which overlooks the park and Bkk beyond. It was good and the views were stunning.
Talk is cheap
Re: Thailand tourist slump continues
It was 5 abreast down 94 again last night. So it is either early arrivals on a cheap low season package, or an early upsurge in seasonal tourism. A pain to drive around, but great for local businesses.
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Re: Thailand tourist slump continues
I have to say I agree with increased arrivals here and in Cha am, where I was yesterday. Particularly noticeable when you have been away and notice the difference when returning
Talk is cheap
Re: Thailand tourist slump continues
Thai resort prices starting to squeeze Europeans
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... s#cxrecs_s
Destinations closer to home offer better value but strong baht only part of the story
A holiday in a popular beach resort in Thailand now costs as much or more than one in Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Egypt, which is making it harder to attract Europeans to the country, according to a global travel website.
The report by Skift drew on interviews with a number of Europe-based tour operators, who said their customers’ other concerns included overdevelopment of Thai tourist destinations. Some also complained that the growing focus on Asian travelers in Thailand, especially Chinese, had left some Europeans feeling less welcome.
The cost of a five-star resort in Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Samet has reached the equivalent of US$500 per room per night including American breakfast, Skift said, citing figures provided by Diethelm Travel Group, one of the oldest and most established tour operators in Thailand.
That is similar to the cost of a five-star beach resort in Greece, Italy and Spain, and more expensive than a comparable property in Turkey or Egypt, which costs $350 a night, according to Diethelm.
Prices for four-star Thai beach hotels also show a similar pattern, according to Diethelm: They cost around $350, as do counterparts in Greece, Italy and Spain, and are higher than the $200 seen in Turkey and Egypt and $300 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The price of a Thai holiday has increased by about 30% in US dollar terms and 40% in euro terms over the last five years due to the appreciation of the baht and inflation, Skift quoted Diethelm CEO Stephan Roemer as saying.
“This is definitely too much,” said Roemer, who also owns Switzerland-based Tourasia, which specialises in Asia holidays.
“Hotels at the well-known resort areas in Thailand are more expensive than comparable resorts in Europe. I fear a negative impact in the medium to longer term (six to 18 months) particularly for the leisure market to Thailand.”
Thai industry players agree that the strength of the baht, due largely to the country’s healthy current account surplus, is a major concern. The Thai currency is now trading around 30 to the US dollar, compared with 35 just a few years ago.
“Although there have been many talks to resolve the issue, the baht keeps strengthening, and this is a tough challenge for our tourism industry, I admit that it has a negative impact on our business,” said Danai Wansom, president and CEO of Well Hotels & Resorts Thailand. “I believe, although I do not want to, that the baht could reach below 30 baht to the US dollar.”
But despite baht appreciation, the Skift report said, “many Thai hotels have raised rates as they can count on Asian first-timers and repeat visitors to continue to flock Thailand”.
However, a guest mix heavily slanted towards Asia has become an issue for some upmarket European guests, it added.
“Some of the hotels have shifted their guest mix and sell a bigger percentage to the Chinese market. So the atmosphere in the hotel can change to the point where clients tell us they will not go back. This is a very important issue,” said Ruth Landolt, general manager of Asia365, a Zurich-based firm that offers tailor-made tours to Asia for German-speaking markets.
Landolt saw a “two-digit drop” in business to Thailand this past summer although the upcoming winter business is “looking good, so we hope for the best”, she said.
“Thailand still has many places with a competitive edge, and those hotels that have maintained their rates are suffering much less, while those that have not listened and increased their rates considerably are now hitting the market with sometimes crazy reductions,” she said.
“The destination that is getting a lot of business now is Vietnam,” she added. “We also have a lot of business to Japan, but this is a different market. Thailand is competing with Southern Europe, Egypt, Mexico, and the Caribbean or Indonesia.”
To David Kevan, a director at Chic Locations UK, the baht and Brexit are least of his concerns. One reason is the tour operator has made a conscious effort to attract more clients aged 55 and up who are less affected by Brexit or the baht, and less tied to rigid travel dates.
His top complaint with Thailand — and with neighbouring destinations such as Vietnam and Cambodia — is overdevelopment.
He foresees many hotels in Bangkok, Pattaya, Hua Hin, and Phuket, in particular, being turned into condos in the next few years due to oversupply and owners wanting a quick capital return.
In Vietnam, certain resort destinations are “unrecognisable” from five years ago, he said, while Sihanoukville in Cambodia “is just a disaster on every level unless your focus is solely on low-end Chinese sex and gambling tourism.”
Chic Locations’ business to Phuket and Koh Samui is down year-on-year, which Kevan puts down to overdevelopment and “overfamiliarity” rather than Brexit or baht.
These islands have lost their glamour, he said. “It’s very much ‘been there, done that’. However clients are using the improved air links into both as gateways to travel onto Khao Lak, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao, so our business to Thailand this year on the whole is about 5% up, with Khao Lak, Koh Samed and Koh Kood all performing well.”
The concern is that these islands will go the way of more established destinations and lose their quality and uniqueness eventually.
“Most of our clients want to see the uniqueness of Thailand. They are prepared to travel a little longer to discover resorts that are far removed from the mass market. And Thailand has these quiet places in abundance,” said Kevan.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has forecast that arrivals from the UK to Thailand will decline slightly to 950,000 this year, from 954,000 in 2018.
“We consider this number satisfactory, as through this year we have been working on many challenging factors such as, the US-China trade war, the concern about Brexit, and definitely the Thai baht appreciation. Decision-making is no longer as easy as it used to be,” said Tanes Petsuwan, deputy governor of marketing communications, speaking at a Thailand networking lunch at World Travel Market last week.
Kasikorn Research Center expects the whole European market to Thailand to decline 1.5% this year to reach 6.66 million arrivals, with spending to shrink 1% to 468 billion baht.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... s#cxrecs_s
Destinations closer to home offer better value but strong baht only part of the story
A holiday in a popular beach resort in Thailand now costs as much or more than one in Greece, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Egypt, which is making it harder to attract Europeans to the country, according to a global travel website.
The report by Skift drew on interviews with a number of Europe-based tour operators, who said their customers’ other concerns included overdevelopment of Thai tourist destinations. Some also complained that the growing focus on Asian travelers in Thailand, especially Chinese, had left some Europeans feeling less welcome.
The cost of a five-star resort in Koh Samui, Koh Phangan and Koh Samet has reached the equivalent of US$500 per room per night including American breakfast, Skift said, citing figures provided by Diethelm Travel Group, one of the oldest and most established tour operators in Thailand.
That is similar to the cost of a five-star beach resort in Greece, Italy and Spain, and more expensive than a comparable property in Turkey or Egypt, which costs $350 a night, according to Diethelm.
Prices for four-star Thai beach hotels also show a similar pattern, according to Diethelm: They cost around $350, as do counterparts in Greece, Italy and Spain, and are higher than the $200 seen in Turkey and Egypt and $300 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
The price of a Thai holiday has increased by about 30% in US dollar terms and 40% in euro terms over the last five years due to the appreciation of the baht and inflation, Skift quoted Diethelm CEO Stephan Roemer as saying.
“This is definitely too much,” said Roemer, who also owns Switzerland-based Tourasia, which specialises in Asia holidays.
“Hotels at the well-known resort areas in Thailand are more expensive than comparable resorts in Europe. I fear a negative impact in the medium to longer term (six to 18 months) particularly for the leisure market to Thailand.”
Thai industry players agree that the strength of the baht, due largely to the country’s healthy current account surplus, is a major concern. The Thai currency is now trading around 30 to the US dollar, compared with 35 just a few years ago.
“Although there have been many talks to resolve the issue, the baht keeps strengthening, and this is a tough challenge for our tourism industry, I admit that it has a negative impact on our business,” said Danai Wansom, president and CEO of Well Hotels & Resorts Thailand. “I believe, although I do not want to, that the baht could reach below 30 baht to the US dollar.”
But despite baht appreciation, the Skift report said, “many Thai hotels have raised rates as they can count on Asian first-timers and repeat visitors to continue to flock Thailand”.
However, a guest mix heavily slanted towards Asia has become an issue for some upmarket European guests, it added.
“Some of the hotels have shifted their guest mix and sell a bigger percentage to the Chinese market. So the atmosphere in the hotel can change to the point where clients tell us they will not go back. This is a very important issue,” said Ruth Landolt, general manager of Asia365, a Zurich-based firm that offers tailor-made tours to Asia for German-speaking markets.
Landolt saw a “two-digit drop” in business to Thailand this past summer although the upcoming winter business is “looking good, so we hope for the best”, she said.
“Thailand still has many places with a competitive edge, and those hotels that have maintained their rates are suffering much less, while those that have not listened and increased their rates considerably are now hitting the market with sometimes crazy reductions,” she said.
“The destination that is getting a lot of business now is Vietnam,” she added. “We also have a lot of business to Japan, but this is a different market. Thailand is competing with Southern Europe, Egypt, Mexico, and the Caribbean or Indonesia.”
To David Kevan, a director at Chic Locations UK, the baht and Brexit are least of his concerns. One reason is the tour operator has made a conscious effort to attract more clients aged 55 and up who are less affected by Brexit or the baht, and less tied to rigid travel dates.
His top complaint with Thailand — and with neighbouring destinations such as Vietnam and Cambodia — is overdevelopment.
He foresees many hotels in Bangkok, Pattaya, Hua Hin, and Phuket, in particular, being turned into condos in the next few years due to oversupply and owners wanting a quick capital return.
In Vietnam, certain resort destinations are “unrecognisable” from five years ago, he said, while Sihanoukville in Cambodia “is just a disaster on every level unless your focus is solely on low-end Chinese sex and gambling tourism.”
Chic Locations’ business to Phuket and Koh Samui is down year-on-year, which Kevan puts down to overdevelopment and “overfamiliarity” rather than Brexit or baht.
These islands have lost their glamour, he said. “It’s very much ‘been there, done that’. However clients are using the improved air links into both as gateways to travel onto Khao Lak, Koh Phangan and Koh Tao, so our business to Thailand this year on the whole is about 5% up, with Khao Lak, Koh Samed and Koh Kood all performing well.”
The concern is that these islands will go the way of more established destinations and lose their quality and uniqueness eventually.
“Most of our clients want to see the uniqueness of Thailand. They are prepared to travel a little longer to discover resorts that are far removed from the mass market. And Thailand has these quiet places in abundance,” said Kevan.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has forecast that arrivals from the UK to Thailand will decline slightly to 950,000 this year, from 954,000 in 2018.
“We consider this number satisfactory, as through this year we have been working on many challenging factors such as, the US-China trade war, the concern about Brexit, and definitely the Thai baht appreciation. Decision-making is no longer as easy as it used to be,” said Tanes Petsuwan, deputy governor of marketing communications, speaking at a Thailand networking lunch at World Travel Market last week.
Kasikorn Research Center expects the whole European market to Thailand to decline 1.5% this year to reach 6.66 million arrivals, with spending to shrink 1% to 468 billion baht.
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Re: Thailand tourist slump continues
Doesn't take much imagination to determine where this is coming from.......
Taiwanese visitors face extra visa requirements
"Individual travellers from Taiwan visiting Thailand will be required to provide financial details to obtain a visitor’s visa starting next month, according to local news reports."...........
https://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/1805 ... quirements
Taiwanese visitors face extra visa requirements
"Individual travellers from Taiwan visiting Thailand will be required to provide financial details to obtain a visitor’s visa starting next month, according to local news reports."...........
https://www.bangkokpost.com/travel/1805 ... quirements
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Re: Thailand tourist slump continues
I was looking to go to Krabi over the next weekend, taking advantage of the others half's time off to make it a 'long weekend'. I was amazed at the huge discounts being offered on hotel booking sites. Plenty of flights still available as well. Sadly, it's not to be as another trip to Bangkok / KK awaits due to her fathers illness.
I only came back last Tuesday and there are definitely more farang tourists in Bkk now. Not hordes of them, but mainly noticeable as there were hardly any before!
I only came back last Tuesday and there are definitely more farang tourists in Bkk now. Not hordes of them, but mainly noticeable as there were hardly any before!
Talk is cheap
Re: Thailand tourist slump continues
I've been walking the beaches for a couple of hours everyday this week and it's getting pretty busy with most of the sunbeds and tables full and the kiteboarding seems to be getting going as well. When I was here a couple of months ago I almost had the beach to myself.
Re: Thailand tourist slump continues
Going to Krabi after all. happy we waited another day. Herself paid for the flights, which was 1500b cheaper and I paid for the hotel which had a further small reduction of about 50b per day!caller wrote: ↑Sat Nov 30, 2019 7:53 pm I was looking to go to Krabi over the next weekend, taking advantage of the others half's time off to make it a 'long weekend'. I was amazed at the huge discounts being offered on hotel booking sites. Plenty of flights still available as well. Sadly, it's not to be as another trip to Bangkok / KK awaits due to her fathers illness.
Talk is cheap