Tourist arrivals plummet in Thailand amid credit crunch

[buksida]

Thailand's high season for tourism has just begun and runs to February, but the signs for one of Southeast Asia's top tourism destinations are worrying.

Sitting outside his Thai kickboxing equipment shop in Bangkok, Soombut Yinglap says he has a plan for coping with the global financial downturn -- eat less and hope the tourists eventually arrive.

"Now there are not many tourists. Before in the high season it would be full," he told AFP, gesturing to the nearly empty pavement where vendors try to sell holiday-makers everything from fake DVDs to knuckle dusters.

"I cannot do anything, just wait and see. Eat little, spend little -- try and save some money," the 37-year-old said outside his shop selling shorts, shin pads and headguards in the downtown Nana district.

Up the road at Boss Avenue tailor shop, 28-year-old Peter Geri says his store will cope by marketing cheaper fabrics.

Fewer tourists in need of a new suit are coming through his doors this year, a slowdown he blames on "the business crash down all around the world".

Rising fuel costs pushed international arrivals at Bangkok's main airport down to about 600,000 in August -- a 33 percent drop from a year earlier after a jump of 5.5 percent in July, Ministry of Tourism figures show.

In September, arrivals were down 21 percent, and industry experts say numbers are expected to remain low as the global credit crunch prompts consumers worried about their jobs and mortgages to stay at home.

"We will probably have a very bad high season," said Oliver Martin of industry body the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).

"You're going to have it across the board. It's going to be everyone -- from the luxury resort right down to a small tour operator, a mom-and-pop shop or a restaurant," he added.

Thailand is suffering from what Martin calls a "double whammy," as bloody anti-government street protests in Bangkok also make the news worldwide, worrying potential holiday-makers.

Adding to the woes, a territorial dispute with Cambodia erupted into a deadly firefight in October affecting border arrivals, while a separatist bomb attack injured 74 people near Thailand's frontier with Malaysia.

Kongkirt Hiranyakit, chairman of government body the Tourism Council of Thailand, warned that the perfect storm of factors could lead to the loss of up to 70,000 tourism industry jobs.

An estimated one million people work in the tourism business and around 700,000 in small and medium enterprises, he said, adding: "The current crisis could hit around 10 percent of those or around 60,000 to 70,000 people."

Although the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has been trying to lure luxury travellers, seen as more immune to global downturns, one of the problems with that strategy is that the kingdom still relies on mass-market package tourists, Martin said.

"This is your middle-income and middle-class market and this is very much the market that's been affected by their mortgages, potential jobs losses," he said.

PATA had forecast Thai tourist growth at four to five percent this year. The first nine months of the year were on track, but now the group is expecting growth to fall to about two or three percent.

Tourism businesses will also be lowering prices to lure thrifty holiday-makers, which may keep numbers steady but impact profit.

From the small stallholders at Nana to the five-star resorts stringing Thailand's beaches, businesses are finding ways to cope.

Debbie Dionysius, marketing director at Laguna Phuket, a resort complex on the southern holiday isle, said they had seen a 12 percent slowdown in revenue so far in the last quarter of 2008 compared to last year.

To counter falling numbers from long-haul destinations such as Europe and the United States, the company is looking to the Middle East and China.

"The economies of these regions have not experienced the same impact from the downturn as western economies, and potentially serve as more positive markets," she said.

The TAT, meanwhile, is trying to entice tourists from Southeast Asian markets like Singapore and Malaysia, which have so far managed to avoid any serious impact from the financial woes.

"Thailand is generally better suited to weather this kind of storm. Because the economy is so dependent on tourism they were very relatively quick to react," said Martin.

Source: AFP

Thought: Now is the time for the government to get its finger out and offer some incentives to foreigners both visiting and resident, they all spend money in Thailand and support Thai businesses. C'mon guys, drop your xenophobic elitist blinkers and look after your country.

[sandman67]

Although the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has been trying to lure luxury travellers......

and thus fly in the face, as usual, of all studies that show that these types of tourists put the least into local economies and all their dosh into the pockets of hotel chain owners and international businesses. Strangely enough backpackers and package tourists spend much more in local economies .....funny that eh? Pretty obvious though when your brain works on logic and not inherited dumbness.....

Theres also a lot less of the posh travellers....

Of course...why would they listen to the studies when face is all important, being Thai means you are always right, and style comes before substance.

whats needed is more middle class joes spending their dosh in little local restaurants, bars and shops noodle stalls..... not more hoorays who wander round looking at the locals like its a zoo then scurry back to the posh hotel bar for a G&T before sodding off to shop in a high end mall.

TAT is missing a letter methinks.....

[lomuamart]

sandman67,
Having just responded to you on the "decreasing number of tourists" thread - allbeit jokingly - , I'll now eat my words after reading the above news article.

[malcolminthemiddle]

As mentioned in the other thread, the strong baht can't be helping. Surprising it wasn't mentioned as a cause.

[Arcadian]

If the authorities are trying to entice tourists from Malaysia and Singapore they should emulate the Malaysian Tourist office, they are running a series of very effective ads on UK tv. Not a peep from Thailand.

[sandman67]

Lomu

s'ok mate....want fries with that?

What I do know is that Amy asks me, when Im in the bar, to play host to English people or generally farangs that are on their ownsomes and look like theyd appreciate a chinwag....and during the elections last year, when they closed the bars for (effectively) two weeks, I got lots of comments of "we wont be back".....cant blame them really...must sting saving up for a holiday then having all your fun taken away by some dicks in Bangkok who are too stupid to think outside their own little box.

The funeral this weekend is different....people understand that. Thats a matter of respect. Everyone I spoke to in the run up was understanding.

Closing farang serving bars when none of the customers can vote, and none of the workers can or do vote is just stupid. For the sake of 800 or so stinking votes they pissed off several thousand tourists in HH....all of whom went home and told their mates what a crap time they had...and so on and so on.

Meanwhile...out on the edges of town in the thai facing bars it was business as usual.....so the whole point was just overturned...all for 800 stinky votes.....insane.

Really you do have to wonder just how dumb a government can get ....multiply it and bingo...TIT. Why the hell the local government didnt see the light and get some local dispensation I dont know....too busy thinking Thai perhaps?

Combine that with all the insanity in BKK and the south, and the stupid little handbag fight on the border, a primary school parliament...throw in a recession and hey presto...no tourists.

its all a bit messed up tho really aint it? I feel sorry for the street traders and smaller hole in the wall restaurants.....thank god they have an ex-pat community here that can keep them going on tickover. The only positive is they seem pretty resilient .... hats off to the little guys say I!

[kendo]

Great post Sandman, for me, thailand is eating and drinking in small restaurants meeting lovely smiling faces, stuff the likes of City Beach and the Regent, Mariot etc, i do appreciate they do bring in a large number of people but these places, if the patrons dont stray to far, they could be anywhere in the world.
I think with Thailand you will never stop discovering new things with an open mind i love it.

Kendo.

[Spitfire]

Combine that with all the insanity in BKK and the south, and the stupid little handbag fight on the border, a primary school parliament...throw in a recession and hey presto...no tourists.

Amen to that!

[The understudy]

[quote="Arcadian"]If the authorities are trying to entice tourists from Malaysia and Singapore they should emulate the Malaysian Tourist office, they are running a series of very effective ads on UK tv. Not a peep from Thailand.[/quote]
Hi there Arcadian

They do @ least in Germany...But their Commercials are so outdated still running Ads from the early 2000's and their Slogan Amazing Thailand had worn off a long time ago.

sandman67 wrote:
Combine that with all the insanity in BKK and the south, and the stupid little handbag fight on the border, a primary school parliament...throw in a recession and hey presto...no tourists.
Agree with you the understudy does SAndman in full with no exeptions!!!

Your's The understudy

[miked]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

once again Thailand makes the BBC front page for all the wrong reasons. be honest, for what reason would a normal tourist bring his family here for a holiday.
miked

[caller]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

once again Thailand makes the BBC front page for all the wrong reasons. be honest, for what reason would a normal tourist bring his family here for a holiday.
miked

I think this is the link you were referring to -

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p ... 738853.stm

[STEVE G]

Bangkok Post:
Passenger traffic and flight movements through Thailand’s six main airports shrank more than 11% in October, reflecting the downturn in the country’s travel and tourism industry.

Passenger flows through airports operated by Airports of Thailand Plc (AoT) including Suvarnabhumi last month totalled 4.23 million, 11.29% lower than in the same period last year.

Flight movements fell 11.57% yearon-year to 29,365, while freight throughput slipped 9.56% to 107,129 tonnes, according to figures compiled by AoT.

But the rate of contraction in October was less steep than the 20% drop in passenger numbers seen in September, a four-year low, which was partly a response to the prevailing political unrest at the time.
The approach of high-season travel and lower ticket costs resulting from the reduction of fuel surcharges seemed to help arrest the contraction rate, industry analysts said.

Air traffic through Thailand has been facing a double whammy — the slowdown in global travel demand triggered by worldwide economic recession and the deteriorating political standoff in Thailand.

Passenger traffic in September fell 20.2% year-on-year to 3.47 million while aircraft movements shrank 15.8% to 26,832 and cargo contracted 8.75% to 107,909 tonnes.

However, figures for cumulative January-October passenger traffic remained positive with 1.3% growth over the same period year to 47.20 million, though total flight movements fell 2.7% to 319,638 and freight rose 2.8% to 1.12 million tonnes.

The passenger traffic outlook through Thai airports in the coming months is cloudy as the recession deepens, and a further contraction in the last two months of the year cannot be ruled out

[sandman67]

and here we have it....from this mornings Nation:

Sharp fall in hotel occupancy
By Suchat Sritama
The Nation
Published on November 22, 2008



Average hotel occupancy rates in all major tourist cities have dropped steeply compared with last year's high season as several negative factors affect the market, the Thai Hotels Association said yesterday.

The global economic meltdown and financial crisis are cited as the main reasons for the decline.

Five-star hotels in Bangkok are running at an occupancy rate of 60 per cent this month, down from 75 per cent a year ago, said association vice president Surapong Techaruvichit.

Hotel occupancy in Phuket is only 57 per cent, against 75 per cent last November, while Hua Hin and Cha-am are as low as 30-35 per cent from 50 per cent during the last high season.

Surapong said hotels across the country had suffered from the economic slowdown in October.

Hotels in Bangkok ran at 57-per-cent occupancy, down from 68 per cent, while Chiang Mai hoteliers ran at only 48 per cent against 61 per cent a year ago.

Hotels in Pattaya ran at 47-per-cent occupancy, down from 52 per cent in October last year.

"All major tourist destinations are affected by the economic crisis. However, some provinces like Kanchanaburi and Phitsanulok are gaining more tourists in this high season," said Surapong.

He added that the hotel sector did not see brighter prospects for 2009, because long-haul tourists from Europe are expected to be fewer in number than this year due to increasing job losses and concern over future earnings.

"In the UK alone, an additional 3 million people are expected to lose their jobs. More than 1 million have already been laid off," said Surapong.

Surapong said hoteliers were now worried about their future prospects, with most staff bringing in less money due to fewer tourist arrivals.

He said that if the average occupancy rate fell below 60 per cent in two consecutive years, many workers could be expected to be laid off.

Chanin Donavanik, chief executive officer of Dusit International, said the hotel business in 2009 would be worse than this year.

Tourist arrivals from major markets - including the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, Japan, India and the Middle East - will slow down. Only China has positive prospects, he said.

"The number of European arrivals is expected to drop sharply, as many countries are now affected by the economic downturn," said Chanin.

He suggested the Tourism Authority of Thailand should prepare more marketing strategies to claw back visitors.

Moreover, Thai Airways International should reduce air fares, and Airports of Thailand is urged to cut its airport fees in order to persuade international carriers to keep their operations in the country, he added.

"In the short term, we [hotels] need to fill our rooms by offering lower prices," Chanin said.

my emphasis

Mr Chanin also needs to read a newspaper....China is already in a recession....so dont count on them matey.....

som nam na!

"It'll be lonely this Christmas/Lonely and cold/It'll be lonely this Christmas/etc etc"

[BaaBaa.]

"The number of European arrivals is expected to drop sharply, as many countries are now affected by the economic downturn," said Chanin.

He suggested the Tourism Authority of Thailand should prepare more marketing strategies to claw back visitors.

"In the short term, we [hotels] need to fill our rooms by offering lower prices," Chanin said.

Or try having a word with the BoT.

[BaaBaa.]

I find it strange that Phuket and Hua Hin are down 18-20%, yet Pattaya with its obviously affluent clientele is only down 5%.

Can anybody riddle me that one?