Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2016 10:00:41 GMT 7
By now, Thailand is as used to its tourism industry rebounding quickly from a crisis as it is to military coups.
Days after the coordinated series of bombs hit Thai resorts including Hua Hin and Phuket on August 11 and 12, the Tourism Authority of Thailand issued estimates of 100,000 to 200,000 cancellations, mostly by Asians, and a loss of $294 million in tourism revenues in the coming months.
That’s really small change for a destination that drew nearly 30 million visitors last year and is targeting 32 million arrivals and $69 billion in tourism revenues this year.
The kingdom is even going ahead with a doubling of the Visa-On-Arrival fee to 2,000 baht ($58) which the Thai Cabinet had approved in January. Coming into effect on September 27, it applies to visitors from 19 countries, including China, by far Thailand’s largest source market with close to 8 million arrivals last year.
Major tourism companies interviewed are not revising their budgets after the latest crisis. Minor Group Thailand’s chairman and CEO, Bill Heinecke, said the group’s hotels in Thailand were a significant contributor to Minor Hotels’ net profit increase of 73% in 1H2016. “We don’t expect that to change over the coming months,” said Heinecke.
“We do not plan to modify our full-year goals,” he added. “Thailand is a very resilient country and has overcome diverse challenges in the past.”
Similarly, Laurent Kuenzle, CEO of a large inbound tour company, Asian Trails Thailand, said the reaction to the latest incident was similar to that of the Erawan Shrine explosion in August last year: some cancellations within 48 hours, then a slowdown in new bookings. “We believe by September, the booking intake will be back to normal. In summary, virtually no impact and by year-end we will definitely have caught up with figures or even see an increase,” he said.
Is Thailand in danger of taking tourism recovery as a given?
www.forbes.com/sites/hamdiraini/2016/08/22/can-thailand-keep-counting-on-tourisms-resilience/#73466c722ab4
Days after the coordinated series of bombs hit Thai resorts including Hua Hin and Phuket on August 11 and 12, the Tourism Authority of Thailand issued estimates of 100,000 to 200,000 cancellations, mostly by Asians, and a loss of $294 million in tourism revenues in the coming months.
That’s really small change for a destination that drew nearly 30 million visitors last year and is targeting 32 million arrivals and $69 billion in tourism revenues this year.
The kingdom is even going ahead with a doubling of the Visa-On-Arrival fee to 2,000 baht ($58) which the Thai Cabinet had approved in January. Coming into effect on September 27, it applies to visitors from 19 countries, including China, by far Thailand’s largest source market with close to 8 million arrivals last year.
Major tourism companies interviewed are not revising their budgets after the latest crisis. Minor Group Thailand’s chairman and CEO, Bill Heinecke, said the group’s hotels in Thailand were a significant contributor to Minor Hotels’ net profit increase of 73% in 1H2016. “We don’t expect that to change over the coming months,” said Heinecke.
“We do not plan to modify our full-year goals,” he added. “Thailand is a very resilient country and has overcome diverse challenges in the past.”
Similarly, Laurent Kuenzle, CEO of a large inbound tour company, Asian Trails Thailand, said the reaction to the latest incident was similar to that of the Erawan Shrine explosion in August last year: some cancellations within 48 hours, then a slowdown in new bookings. “We believe by September, the booking intake will be back to normal. In summary, virtually no impact and by year-end we will definitely have caught up with figures or even see an increase,” he said.
Is Thailand in danger of taking tourism recovery as a given?
www.forbes.com/sites/hamdiraini/2016/08/22/can-thailand-keep-counting-on-tourisms-resilience/#73466c722ab4
