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Tourism trouble in Thailand

Thursday, July 02, 2009

Catherine Deshayes

What have swine flu and the credit crunch got in common - they take no prisoners, they can affect anyone and any budget - yes, all of the above, but the gruesome twosome are also having a catastrophic effect on the all important tourism industry in places such as Mexico and Thailand, which has led to the Thais being forced to offer steep discounts on everything in order to attract visitors...

Thailand's tourism industry, on which it relies so heavily, is in big trouble. As if the global recession wasn't enough, the country has also had to contend with well publicized political upheaval and fears of the swine flu pandemic.

The tourism industry is a pillar of the economy and employs more than 2.5 million people in Thailand.

It is going to great lengths to attempt to pull in the visitor numbers its economy needs to stay afloat, with everyone from airlines to hoteliers to restaurants offering big discounts and incentives.

Foreign traveller arrivals have fallen 16 per cent so far this year, while hotel occupancy across the country has dropped to 44 per cent, down from 66 per cent last year. Luxury hotels in Bangkok have even lower occupancy rates.

Thai Airways is offering free inbound domestic flights to passengers from Europe, Australia, New Zealand and North America and hotels are offering free golf packages thrown in to the already discounted room rate or buy-one-get-one-free nights.

It's not just international tourists who are being wooed either - the country is also trying to promote domestic tourism, with hotels offering cheap deals to locals and banks offering low-interest loans to small tourist-based businesses.

Kongrit Hiranyakit, Head of the Tourism Council of Thailand, said, "I don't see any positive factors.

"Oil prices are increasing, influenza is spreading all over the world. Political protests are bad for the country's image."

"The tourism industry will lose about £3.5 billion - down by more than a third from about £9.6 billion last year," he added.

As one of the main reasons for going on holiday is to escape stress and relax- Thailand is understandably concerned that its image of a paradise hotspot is now marred.

Picture by wernerbrau