Thailand tourism situation

[PeteC]

Chinese tourist arrivals plunge in February
Published: 20/03/2019 at 07:07 PM
Online news: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/to ... recent_box

Thailand saw a 0.17% increase in tourist arrivals in February year-on-year, after a 4.91% rise in January, the Tourism and Sports Ministry said on Wednesday.

Visitors from China, Thailand's biggest source of tourists, fell 12.29% in February from a year earlier after jumping 10.29% in January.

The 3.57 million tourists spent about 192 billion baht in February, down 0.84 % from a year earlier.

Foreign tourist receipts account for about 12% of Thailand's gross domestic product.

[buksida]

Visa-on-arrival waiver extension in the works

Plans are afoot to extend the waiver of the visa-on-arrival fee for visitors for another three months to ward off an economic slump during the transition to a new government.

Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said the Immigration Bureau is scheduled to propose to the cabinet at its April 9 meeting an extension of the exemption of the 2,000-baht visa-on-arrival fee for visitors from 21 nations until July 31 this year.

The fee waiver, designed to give a much-needed boost to the tourism industry, is scheduled to expire on April 30.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/to ... -the-works

[buksida]

Atta head notes tourism disruption
The rise of the independent traveller over the past decade has disrupted inbound tour operators in Thailand, says a veteran of the industry.

To survive, operators must acknowledge the changes and learn about new forms of travel, adjusting their business to fit new trends, said Vichit Prakobgosol, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta).

...

Last year, the number of arrivals who were clients of Atta members contracted, reaching 5.57 million, down from 5.82 million in 2017.

For the first quarter this year, the statistics also show a plummet in arrivals from many major countries including China, Japan, the UK and France.

Other factors such as the sluggish global economy and strong baht were blamed for the slowdown.

China, Atta's biggest market, dropped by 12% to some 880,000 visitors in the first three months.

Atta reported a decline in the first quarter for foreign arrivals using the services of its members, totalling 1.53 million this year, down from 1.68 million in the same period last year.


https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/to ... disruption

[oakdale160]

There are two separate issues, much debated on the forum.The decline in tourists vising Thai and the countries of origin of these tourists and secondly the perception of retirees that they are not welcome in thai. The govt has an answer. Strict control over the social media so that no bad news can circulate about any unattractive aspects of life in Thailand.

[PeteC]

Tourist arrivals suffer rare drop
Published: 26/04/2019 at 02:16 PM
Online news: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/to ... -rare-drop

Thailand suffered a rare combined drop in tourist arrivals and spending in March, signalling a rocky first quarter for the sluggish economy.

The number of visitors fell 0.7% from a year ago to 3.5 million, official figures out Friday and data compiled by Bloomberg show. Foreign tourism receipts slid 1.3% to 184.5 billion baht.

Visitors from China, Thailand's biggest source of tourists, dropped 1.87% in March from a year earlier after slumping 12.29% in February.

Tourism is critical for the economy and on some measures accounts for a fifth of the economy, prompting the government to take steps such as waiving visa fees to woo travellers. The downbeat report follows data earlier this week showing a worse-than-expected tumble in exports, another economic engine.

"If the tourism arrivals and receipts continue to slide, it could be an added risk to the economy because the sector is one of the main drivers," said Duangrat Prajaksilpthai, an economist at TMB Bank. "The numbers usually fluctuate and could bounce back so we have to wait and see.'

Political gridlock following a messy general election in March, the first since a coup in 2014, is also weighing on sentiment.

Last week, Finance Minister Apisak Tantivorawong said economic growth may slow to the low 3% range in the first and second quarters, and that officials are mulling steps to inject 20 billion baht of stimulus.

Chinese holidaymakers have driven a years-long boom but arrival numbers have declined for two straight months. The figures also showed a substantial 35% jump in visitors from India.

At the turn of the year, Thailand expected to hit a record for tourist arrivals this year of about 40 million.

[buksida]

Thai tourism still wounded
Next week will mark the one-year anniversary of the fatal tour boat accident in Phuket, and Thai tourism is still paying the price from the incident.

Recklessness, poor safety measures and a heavy storm were blamed for the 47 Chinese lives lost on board the Phoenix tour boat that capsized off Phuket last July 5.

The accident resulted in a sharp decline in the number of visitors from China to Thailand, though some have argued that the drop-off was a consequence of the tension between China and the US since late 2018.

Also, tourism operators said the closure of some popular beaches in the South of Thailand turned travellers to other countries in the region.

The China market plunged in the months after the event, with the biggest drop of nearly 20% in October, prompting the government to waive visa-on-arrival fees for visitors from 21 countries, including China, a month later. The waiver of the 2,000-baht fee has been extended twice and will expire in October.


The situation hasn't improved much, as the decrease in visitors from the mainland continues, with a 4.3% year-on-year contraction in the first five months of 2019.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/sp ... ll-wounded

Totally contradictory to the ministry of bullshit which still claims over 110,000 tourists are coming here every day.

[Nereus]

This, umm, err, arh, should, umm err arh, help:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

https://www.bangkokpost.com/vdo/travel- ... od-tourism

Promotion of local fruits and other produce are turning Phetchaburi and Prachuap Khiri Khan provinces into food tourist destinations. —

[buksida]

SURVEY – Do the Tourism Authority of Thailand invent their statistics?
The internet has spoken, well The Thaiger’s Facebook page anyway, and there is a strong distrust in the statistics about tourist arrivals issued by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

83% of people that voted said they didn’t believe the numbers quoted by the TAT. 17% believed the numbers were accurate.

The reasons for people’s disbelief aren’t fully understood as their objections come with plenty of vitriol and oozing subjective opinion. But the mood of the meeting is palatable and there is a large chunk of (mostly) foreigners who distrust the country’s tourism ministry.

https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/tourism ... statistics

Clickbait I know, but amusing nonetheless.


TAT chief blames high baht for drop in tourists to Thailand
Thailand’s tourism numbers have been dropping over the past three months, against projections and when compared to year-on-year figures. And the blame game has started.

TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) chief Yuthasak Suphasorn is blaming the high value of the Thai baht for the worse than expected tourist figures. He admits that European visitors are being more careful over their money and that Thai tourism tzars will now have to look to places like India to sustain growth.

It was the first time that anyone at the TAT had mentioned the Thai baht was having such a big effect on the tourism industry and will surely be making a few waves in government circles.

Thailand’s media has been lamenting ‘Brexit’, the ‘US-China trade war’ and ‘looming recession’ in the west as contributing factors too.

https://www.dailynews.co.th/economic/716857

Wait for the Bangkok Post followup article stating TAT are expecting 40 million this year.

[handdrummer]

Maybe people who have come here before are tired of coming to Thailand and are going to other countries and maybe they are telling their friends that it's too much of a hassle dealing with immigration and paying the extra charges that Imm. dreams up and that the price of everything is increasing and that Thais are increasingly unfriendly towards tourists and that you are likely to get ripped off every time you buy something outside of a mall, and, and, and. In the meantime, tourism is increase to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Thais will look everywhere, except in the mirror, for answers.

[Blacky]

Maybe people who have come here before are tired of coming to Thailand and are going to other countries and maybe they are telling their friends that it's too much of a hassle dealing with immigration and paying the extra charges that Imm. dreams up and that the price of everything is increasing and that Thais are increasingly unfriendly towards tourists and that you are likely to get ripped off every time you buy something outside of a mall, and, and, and. In the meantime, tourism is increase to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Thais will look everywhere, except in the mirror, for answers.

....or it's just the strong Thai Bhat?!?

[handdrummer]

Maybe people who have come here before are tired of coming to Thailand and are going to other countries and maybe they are telling their friends that it's too much of a hassle dealing with immigration and paying the extra charges that Imm. dreams up and that the price of everything is increasing and that Thais are increasingly unfriendly towards tourists and that you are likely to get ripped off every time you buy something outside of a mall, and, and, and. In the meantime, tourism is increase to Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. Thais will look everywhere, except in the mirror, for answers.

....or it's just the strong Thai Bhat?!?

Of course. I'm sure there are several factors involved.

[buksida]

TAT cuts tourism revenue estimate
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has cut its estimate for tourism revenue growth this year from 10% to 9.5%, attributing the set back to the global slowdown, strong baht and rising fuel prices.

The number of international arrivals this year is now estimated at 40.2 million, far short of the 41.1 to 41.3 million visitors the authority confidently targeted early this year.

Tourism revenue receipts are expected be down to 3.38 trillion baht, from 3.4 trillion, breaking down into 2.21 trillion baht from international tourists and 1.17 trillion from domestic travellers, according to TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn.

He said some negative conditions surrounding Thai tourism were expected to ease next year, and TAT's marketing plans would help boost numbers to an expected 3.72 trillion baht in 2020, a 10% growth year-on-year.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/17 ... e-estimate


So, just a smaller pile of BS now then ...

[Nereus]

I know that some Thais have trouble counting, but even allowing for that, how do they come up with this:
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Suvarnabhumi expects passenger upswing

https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/ge ... er-upswing

Suvarnabhumi airport expects to welcome between 66-68 million passengers this year despite passenger weak traffic in May, according to airport director Sutheerawat Suwannawat.

He said that despite a 1% drop in traffic in May, the airport has reported a growing volume of passengers between October last year and May of this year, with a total of 44 million passengers using the country's main airport during that period.

Mr Sutheerawat attributed the decrease in traffic in May to the trade war between China and the United States which negatively impact air travel.

However, the figure went back up last month, with a 1% increase in traffic, or 170,000 more passengers than in the same period last year, the director said.

More arrivals are expected during the winter travel season, which would raise Suvarnabhumi's number of passengers to between 66 million and 68 million this year, which would be a 2-3% increase from last year.

Mr Sutheerawat said passenger facilitation services have also been upgraded with the introduction of new mobile communication technology. Last year, the airport launched a digital platform project which was highlighted by the launch of a mobile application that ensures prompt delivery of essential information about the airport and its services.

Meanwhile, the director said the project to build a satellite terminal to accommodate more planes is progressing.

The additional terminal, which will increase Suvarnabhumi's handling capacity by 15 million passengers a year, along with the baggage handling system and Automated People Mover (APM) trains are expected to be completed by next year at the latest.

[buksida]

Airport traffic may well be on the up - but they're not all tourists, many are just transits, business travelers, expats, visiting families, etc etc. But the TAT bosses want to keep their cruisy jobs so they all get counted as tourists. Malays, Burmese and Khmers crossing borders also get thrown into this 'tourist' pot giving them a figure that is over half the country's population.

Just a walking around a tourist town with your eyes open will show anyone with eyes that there is no bugger here! Maybe TAT should come to Bangsaphan, I haven't seen another farang for days!

[oakdale160]

Although TAT announces the country of origin of arrivals it does not gather info on their reason for them visiting. According to well-qualified HHs the number of sex-tourists has fallen here in the last 2 years, no doubt many will not regret their departure. I travel to Cambodia about twice a year and that activity is on the rise (no pun intended) in S'ville and PP. Cambodia's tourist figures (Iknow, I know) are rising dramatically.