Relying on the Russians - Thai hotels chief has mixed forecast for Pattaya high season

[webfact]

Relying on the Russians - Thai hotels chief has mixed forecast for Pattaya high season

 

Picture: Sophon Cable

 

PATTAYA: -- The head of the Thai Hoteliers' Association on the eastern seaboard has mixed hopes for tourism in Pattaya this coming high season.

 

While he expects a lot more Russians than in previous years he is less hopeful of a resurgence in other European visitors.

 

A glut of hotel rooms means high season is a bit of a misnomer - better than usual season might be more accurate according to Sanphet Suphabawornsathian, who spoke to Sophon Cable TV.

 

But the glut of hotels is good news for travelers - prices should be the same as last year.

 

"The Russians are coming back - that is for sure," said Sanphet. He pointed to better political stability in Russia and an improving rouble.

 

He said that indicators showed that this year there were more advanced bookings being made - people were less likely to wait until the last moment for discounts.

 

He expected Germans, Scandinavians and people from the UK to make up a fair proportion of what he called quality tourists but cautioned that their number were not expected to be as large as in recent years.

 

Those kind of tourists were less interested in high class hotels and are looking more to condominiums and apartments, he said.

 

Thais would continue to come to Pattaya but mostly on long weekends and short trips. He felt they were more likely to go to the north this year to take advantage of the cool weather there.

 

This would be particularly true of Bangkok based Thais, he said.

 

He bemoaned the state of hotels in Pattaya saying there were essentially too many for the market. Consequently prices would be low and about the same as last year.

 

"At least there should be more customers to make the operators smile," he said.

 

And visitors should again get a good deal for holidays in Pattaya.

 

Source: Sophon Cable

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-09-13

 

[Thaiwrath]

3 minutes ago, webfact said:

He expected Germans, Scandinavians and people from the UK to make up a fair proportion of what he called quality tourists

Based on some news items on here, over the last couple of months, that would be debatable ! 

[ezzra]

the business of forecasting tourists arrival is as accurate as forecasting the

whether... and as everybody knows, weather forcasting in Thailand is no

better than predicting a crap shoot results...

[The manic]

1 hour ago, Thaiwrath said:

Based on some news items on here, over the last couple of months, that would be debatable ! 

Are you a quality tourist? How many art galleries, theatres and museums do you visit? How many thousand baht a day do you put into the economy?

[nausea]

Sanphet sounds refreshingly honest.

[inThailand]

4 minutes ago, nausea said:

Sanphet sounds refreshingly honest.

Yup! Nice to hear something other than complete BS. What he says could go for Phuket as well.

[Thechook]

8 minutes ago, nausea said:

Sanphet sounds refreshingly honest.

Don't worry madam TAT will be along shortly with her rebuttal.  She has already announced another record breaking year for tourist arrivals and revenue.

[Thechook]

44 minutes ago, The manic said:

Are you a quality tourist? How many art galleries, theatres and museums do you visit? How many thousand baht a day do you put into the economy?

Lots, I have a great appreciation of the performing arts and regularly visit the galleries and theatres of Pattaya and finish my day on a happy ending at one of the museums.

[Thaiwrath]

52 minutes ago, The manic said:

Are you a quality tourist? How many art galleries, theatres and museums do you visit? How many thousand baht a day do you put into the economy?

I am NOT a tourist, and what I spend goes into the economy.

Any more quality posts to offer ?

[nausea]

1 hour ago, The manic said:

Are you a quality tourist? How many art galleries, theatres and museums do you visit?

Why on earth would anyone visit Thailand for its galleries, theatres and museums; that's what you do in places like London, Paris and New York. When they say quality tourists I think they mean people who stay in five-star hotels, indulge in organised excursions and activities, and probably spend a lot of their time lounging by the pool. I would imagine a lot of these guys have high pressure jobs and are here to relax not improve their minds.

[jacko45k]

I am expecting more comment from TV over the remark that UK people are being included in the 'quality tourist' group!

Edited September 13, 2017 by jacko45k

[elgenon]

Quality tourist is only about the money. And no shooting! Falling off a balcony is suspect.

 

Oh, and no paper in the toilet.

 

I like art but I don't think the generalissimo cares.

[over it]

1 hour ago, The manic said:

Are you a quality tourist? How many art galleries, theatres and museums do you visit? How many thousand baht a day do you put into the economy?

If a quality tourist wanted to come here they would not find much in the way of theaters, art galleries, and museums. There simply aren't very many.

Plenty of Thai culture to shove down their throats, though.

[manta]

Russians is one of the reasons we are not returning to Thailand.

Sent from my SM-T819 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Emster23]

He is much more reliable source than TAT as his and associations depend on real tourists spending rather than making pie in the sky pronouncements like TAT does on government dime

[AlQaholic]

I am Scandinavian, and I can assure you all, I am not a quality tourist and I will not visit Pattaya.

[MaksimMislavsky]

21 minutes ago, manta said:

Russians is one of the reasons we are not returning to Thailand.

Good. 

[manta]

Good. 

Only time will tell..

Sent from my SM-T819 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Toshiba66]

Getting tourists to visit Pattaya is one issue, getting them to ever return is the real issue.

 

The whole place needs a major cleanup and I am not talking about the Bars.

 

Sort out all the thieving taxis refusing to use meters and putting guns to the heads of anyone trying to make changes to that. Remove all Jetski's from the beach to eliminate some of the corruption.  Clean the beach daily. Stop the annoying street Touts from shoving a different watch in your face every 2 minutes after the sun goes down so tourists can enjoy a relaxing night out.

 

If you start with this Tourists may even want to come back for another holiday.

Edited September 13, 2017 by Toshiba66

[madmitch]

From what I've experienced about two thirds of Russian bookings are cancelled, and another 10% are no-shows. Others see exactly the same trend. I'm not sure whether this is the same in the bigger hotels. Anyone know?

[Dustdevil]

There are always the Chinese "quality" tourists.

[inThailand]

59 minutes ago, AlQaholic said:

I am Scandinavian, and I can assure you all, I am not a quality tourist and I will not visit Pattaya.

Your welcome to join us scum in Chiang Mai.

Edited September 13, 2017 by inThailand
fat fingers

[mikebell]

How do Russians fare in Pattaya?  They have no English and little in the way of manners.  I was approached outside Pattaya Night market by a family group of Russians.They made several gestures imitating eating food.  I presumed they were not familiar with the word 'restaurant'.

[inThailand]

Just now, mikebell said:

How do Russians fare in Pattaya?  They have no English and little in the way of manners.  I was approached outside Pattaya Night market by a family group of Russians.They made several gestures imitating eating food.  I presumed they were not familiar with the word 'restaurant'.

And these are the quality tourists!

[Mickmouse1]

Quality tourists for Rubbish  Services and inferior facilities.Do not differentiate between visitors as you do not really know the exact amount each individual spends.

You need them all ,after all all tourists contribute to your total  golden pot.?

[AlQaholic]

4 minutes ago, mikebell said:

How do Russians fare in Pattaya?  They have no English and little in the way of manners.  I was approached outside Pattaya Night market by a family group of Russians.They made several gestures imitating eating food.  I presumed they were not familiar with the word 'restaurant'.

I thought Russian was the official language of Pattaya nowadays?

[RichardColeman]

Based on the stupidly high and false baht, they'll be lucky to break even !

[newnative]

• If he wanted to do something really useful he would get all the powerful hotel operators together and strongly lobby City Hall, Immigration, and the police to strongly and visibly enforce the law against short-term rentals in condominiums.  Every day the hotels lose a huge number of room rentals to these illegal rentals.  And, once lost, never to be regained.  You can't go back in time and get a second chance to rent the room--the revenue is gone.  Strong enforcement would be a big win for the hotel owners, the taxation department, and to the many condominium residents who don't like a daily parade of hotel guests staying at their place or residence.  

[Fallangpakwan]

But it's just wonderful to see the optimists carrying on the building of real necessities like TERMINAL 21 with its 24 floor hotel; I'm sure Russians and loads of others are lined up trying to book in there already.

[bert bloggs]

We go into Pattaya a few times a week and to be honest the place looks as if there are not many tourists , it could be that the baht is so strong , i dont know , but i do know that most of the agents my wife knows are all saying the same thing ,its very quiet