According to the initial assessment, the number of foreign tourists between December 2008 and April 2009 could drop by 2.3 million and the loss of revenues should be around 86 billion to 130 billion baht. The decrease would be about 40 to 50 per cent when compared to the same period of the previous year.
Mr Santichai said the TAT initially aimed to welcome 16 million tourists, but the number could be slashed to 14 million due to the political and economic crises.
The TAT will fine-tune its marketing plan by emphasising on restoring tourist confidence. Previously, the authority proposed the "Seven Wonders" campaign to promote important tourist destinations in the country next year, but it will also try to restore the national image by apologising to tourists who were affected by the seizure of airports by the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) and beefing up security measures.
The TAT in cooperation with the private sector will come up with different tourism campaigns and promotions to draw in more tourists as well.
Source: Bangkok Post
Thoughts: Firstly that 16 million figure is misleading as it includes all border crossings so Malaysians make up the bulk of it. The 2.3 million will primarily be well spending westerners.
So their idea of boosting tourism is to apologise ... I'm sure that will get them flooding back in droves.
