High season? What high season? Thai tourism has a gap year.

By The Thaiger

 

 

OPINION

 

High season. What’s happening to Thailand’s traditional tourist high season this year?

(Sounds of crickets and tumbleweed rolling down the streets)

Just as last year’s high season was wrapping up, the Covid-19 pandemic became real and much of the world closed its borders in March. Thailand hoteliers, tour operators and airlines had to endure a very quiet low season, obviously a lot lower than usual. But with the next high season looming the prospects of a sudden surge of tourists is slim. And thousands of businesses that were holding out for a bounce back over the traditional busy tourist season will now have to wait even longer.

 

The mandatory 14 day quarantine and copious paperwork, despite all the best intentions, is simply too much of a burden for the overseas visitors that might want to travel to Thailand. The uptake of the much-hyped Special Tourist Visa has been dismal. Now the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Ministry of Sports and Tourism have again scheduled a talkfest with the country’s leading hotel groups because, well, they don’t know what to do.

 

It’s simple. The hotel groups will say we need to find a way to re-open the borders and manage the Covid situation into the future. The public servants will nod in agreement and say they’ll “look into it”. There will be another ‘proposal’, and nothing much will change. Thai government officials seem to be waiting for the magic pill, a viable vaccine, to provide the safety net for a re-opening of the borders.

Meanwhile, the Thai government is caught inside a travel bubble of its own making. A travel bubble of ONE.

 

Around the country leaders in various industries are looking, assuringly, to the Thai government for leadership and a way forward. But as the 2020/2021 high season kicks in, there is only another 3 months of almost zero tourism on the horizon. Whilst Thais are being stirred out of their provinces with stimulus packages to stay in hotels and eat at restaurants, most aren’t travelling far and the hopes for a domestic-tourism-led recovery are fanciful at best.

 

Bryan Flowers is the CEO of the Night Wish Group based in Pattaya, owners of some of the town’s most popular bars. He’s vaguely hopeful but says they’ve been struggling.

“Unless the visa situation lightens, quarantine is scrapped and flights are increased, we do not expect a high season, 50% of our sales are online now, maybe that will increase if people have time off.”

 

“We really hope we can catch a high season in December but the general consensus is things wont get back to normal until after Songkran, of which we normally hit our lowest sales of the year in June-July,But I expect some huge momentum in traffic coming into Thailand once the quarantine is dropped totally.”

 

Scot Toon, the MD from The Pavilions Hotels & Resorts, Asia, says they’d hoped to start welcoming back tourists to Pavilions Phuket back in August.

 

“Like many we have made changes to our operations but maintained the five star standards of the resort we have focused heavily on the Thai market and insured that we changed our offerings to meet the needs and wants of this key market. We have found that the Thailand travel agents especially the ones that used to focus on inbound or outbound travel is now changing their focus on driving thai business to local destinations.”

 

“We have worked closely with domestic focused travel partners And have seen great pick up and bookings for October, November and December. Although nowhere near full it is helped us to reduce the burden of cash flow and move forward and grow our business from the zero base of being closed.”

 

“Long term we look forward to borders opening as there is not nearly enough domestic business for all the hotels in the island.”

 

Bill Barnett, MD and senior consultant for c9hotelworks.com, says this year’s high season is proving to be a ‘gap year’ for the industry.

 

“It’s a bit like a Bear Grylls episode of hotel managers parachuting into the jungle, rife with danger at every corner and a hike out o the wilderness into the light, and promise of the vaccine. Hard yards ahead but there are some green-shoots out there and Thailand will bounce back, it’s just a matter of time.”

 

But nothing short of a broad re-opening of the borders, along with dropping many of the restrictions and paperwork, will save Thailand tourism. But the country’s health officials are saying the risk is too great, especially as much of the world is now experiencing a major surge in new cases and deaths caused by Covid-19.

 

And even if they fling open the borders tomorrow, who would be coming? The volume of the world’s travellers have been reduced to a trickle and, around the world, international flights are few, and expensive.

 

Some of Thailand’s larger tour companies and hotel groups will be able to hang in there, surviving on limited re-openings of rooms or just keeping the doors locked and sacking staff. Smaller businesses have either already closed up shop or will not be able to weather any further extension of the tourist drought.

 

In Chiang Mai the weather is starting to cool with crisp mornings and evenings making the northern city a popular tourist hot spot through December, January and February. In Phuket, the wet season is over and the skies glow bright blue with cooling breezes and long stretches of clear beaches. In Bangkok the Christmas decorations are already up at shopping malls awaiting the flood of international tourists for the high season.

 

But the fate of this high season is already sealed and the return-to-normal simply isn’t going to happen. Whilst much of the tourism and hospitality industry thought that this year’s 2020/2021 high season would signal the start of a ‘new beginning’, it’s just turned out to be the beginning of a long haul for Thailand’s industry players, and the thousands they employ.

 

Source: https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/tourism/high-season-what-high-season-thai-tourism-has-a-gap-year

 

-- © Copyright The Thaiger 2020-11-18

 

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5 minutes ago, webfact said:

Around the country leaders in various industries are looking, assuringly, to the Thai government for leadership and a way forward.

 

I think you need a change in government, preferably elected, to seek leadership and any possible way forward.

Some areas where foreigners don't make up the bulk of visits are BOOMING. Went to Bang Saen Beach this weekend...got stiffed by private condo owner who failed to show up....took half a day to find a hotel with an available room. Traffic a nightmare...wall to wall people in every restuarant and the beack walk was packed. I think Thailand's tourist areas will evolve (or devolve) as the case may be to attract and accomodate domestic tourists and do just fine...it will just take some time.

The riots in Bangkok would have kept people away as well, and they are only getting started there. Tear gas, water cannons and five people shot last night. Will no doubt escalate as we have seen in Hong Kong.

 

3 minutes ago, webfact said:

Bryan Flowers is the CEO of the Night Wish Group based in Pattaya, owners of some of the town’s most popular bars. He’s vaguely hopeful but says they’ve been struggling.

 

Popular bars? Night Wish is the seedy group that owns the sex-for-sale bars on Soi 6 in Pattaya where the managers scrounge for drinks from the customers.

 

That soi used to be a bit of fun, now all the bars are generic and boring.

 

5 minutes ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

 

Popular bars? Night Wish is the seedy group that owns the sex-for-sale bars on Soi 6 in Pattaya where the managers scrounge for drinks from the customers.

 

That soi used to be a bit of fun, now all the bars are generic and boring.

 

Had to laugh when I read Bryan Flowers refers to himself as the “CEO”. 
Talking himself up a bit?

 

The Thais have a different word for that occupation. 

 

They say that seasons comes and seasons go, and this year seasons will be remembered forever in infamy...

19 minutes ago, webfact said:

The uptake of the much-hyped Special Tourist Visa has been dismal

 

 

shocker.. who could have predicted that 

 

 

14 minutes ago, tonray said:

Some areas where foreigners don't make up the bulk of visits are BOOMING. Went to Bang Saen Beach this weekend...got stiffed by private condo owner who failed to show up....took half a day to find a hotel with an available room. Traffic a nightmare...wall to wall people in every restuarant and the beack walk was packed. I think Thailand's tourist areas will evolve (or devolve) as the case may be to attract and accomodate domestic tourists and do just fine...it will just take some time.

 

Cha-am/Hua Hin the same - but they all drive home come Sunday night..

 

the problem with this administration is that every time they have a good idea they then kill it by adding loads of petty restrictions

 

keep it simple stupids and you'll get the results you want

56 minutes ago, webfact said:

And even if they fling open the borders tomorrow, who would be coming?

Very few. The covid will eventually disappear, but I doubt the ridiculously inflated baht will... 

So this is the point where things will get desperate. Businesses and individuals in the tourism sector who have been surviving on the remnants of the high season's earnings will not have their coffers refilled this year. We have already seen the closures throughout the country. Next is near total collapse. ????

1 hour ago, tonray said:

Some areas where foreigners don't make up the bulk of visits are BOOMING. Went to Bang Saen Beach this weekend...got stiffed by private condo owner who failed to show up....took half a day to find a hotel with an available room. Traffic a nightmare...wall to wall people in every restuarant and the beack walk was packed. I think Thailand's tourist areas will evolve (or devolve) as the case may be to attract and accomodate domestic tourists and do just fine...it will just take some time.

Your weekend experience is a flawed example.  I spend a night at Bang Saen in the middle of last week the place was dead.  No one on the beach all those food vendors with no customers.  Went to one of the more popular restaurants just a few tables had customers.

Pattaya is the same during the week.  Dead.

These places are not going to survive in the future on the 2 day weekend tourists no way no how.

what high season ? when is reality going to sink in. the whole game has changed and will never be the same again. 

 

now back to tinder. i am more popular than ever.  

I don’t think what’s going on in the streets of Bangkok has any bearing on the numbers of tourists at this time. Clearly, as described in the article, the main factor is the hoops and heaps of paperwork required along with the extra costs incurred primarily due to the quarantine. 
 

They can get together and discuss it day in day out but until that’s lifted tourism ain’t coming back period. All these predictions by the likes of Bryan flowers and others in the article are based on that. 

2 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

 

 

 

Popular bars? Night Wish is the seedy group that owns the sex-for-sale bars on Soi 6 in Pattaya where the managers scrounge for drinks from the customers.

 

That soi used to be a bit of fun, now all the bars are generic and boring.

 

Whilst I agree with your sentiment, this group of bars are still among the most popular bars in Pattaya as stated in the article. 

What I don't understand is, we read articles like this almost daily, yet when I try booking a room at one of my two  favourite hotels in Hua Hin for Xmas, I'm told they're "booked out". No tourists, yet booked out. How can this be? 

2 hours ago, webfact said:

talkfest with the country’s leading hotel groups because, well, they don’t know what to do.

Hm so the military government that has never done a days work does not know what to do. Surpise surprise.

2 minutes ago, djayz said:

What I don't understand is, we read articles like this almost daily, yet when I try booking a room at one of my two  favourite hotels in Hua Hin for Xmas, I'm told they're "booked out". No tourists, yet booked out. How can this be? 

When I lived in Hua Hin it was mostly domestic tourists. Thais and expats. Very few International tourists.

In case someones missed it their is covid 19 worldwide with international travel virtually at a standstill.

 

Why the continual reference to tourist figures high season low season etc ....as far as the international market goes there isnt any tourism to speak of.

 

What do they expect? .... a free pass get out of jail card  just for Thailand so borders can be opened air travel resumed all because this would be high season if their wasnt covid and worldwide restrictions.

 

Endless articles and government TAT statements pointing out the blindingly obvious.

There will be another meeting with two planks of wood with a genius idea - savings of 500k baht, tourists spending 400k. Maybe they think lets increase the threshold 

2 hours ago, RotBenz8888 said:

Very few. The covid will eventually disappear, but I doubt the ridiculously inflated baht will... 

Blame the Dollar.

2 hours ago, djayz said:

What I don't understand is, we read articles like this almost daily, yet when I try booking a room at one of my two  favourite hotels in Hua Hin for Xmas, I'm told they're "booked out". No tourists, yet booked out. How can this be? 

"Booked out" means that they are partially or fully closed for business.

Interesting to find out how one orders a beer online ???? Delivery by Grab ?

Good luck to all the small to medium sized businesses with a nulled high season to look forward too. It's going to get pretty rough for a lot of them. 

The way they write these articles you'd swear that Thailand is the only country in the world to have been affected by the virus. Get a grip, for goodness sake, it's a calamity for most countries, and given how lightly the Thai population has got off in terms of deaths due to C19 it's less of a tragedy here than in many other countries. The government's ban on foreign tourism is simply aimed at keeping things that way, not on victimising the bars and hotels favoured by foreigners. 

2 hours ago, Tropicalevo said:

When I lived in Hua Hin it was mostly domestic tourists. Thais and expats. Very few International tourists.

I really like Hua Hin and would probably live there if I could.

However, HH doesn't have what Pattaya or Patong has. Without what those two places have, how popular would Thailand be?

 

Without the "nightlife" (which I'm no longer interested in anyway), I could just as easily live in Langkawi or Penang.

5 hours ago, Mr Meeseeks said:

 

 

 

Popular bars? Night Wish is the seedy group that owns the sex-for-sale bars on Soi 6 in Pattaya where the managers scrounge for drinks from the customers.

 

That soi used to be a bit of fun, now all the bars are generic and boring.

 

Yea you sure got that right about Night Wish Group. They pretty much took the Soi 6 out of Soi 6. I won't drink in their bars.

5 hours ago, tonray said:

Some areas where foreigners don't make up the bulk of visits are BOOMING. Went to Bang Saen Beach this weekend...got stiffed by private condo owner who failed to show up....took half a day to find a hotel with an available room. Traffic a nightmare...wall to wall people in every restuarant and the beack walk was packed. I think Thailand's tourist areas will evolve (or devolve) as the case may be to attract and accomodate domestic tourists and do just fine...it will just take some time.

A booming weekend here and there does not a livelyhood make. Time is a luxury for those who have savings to buy the clock.

 

Sorry to hear about your getting "stiffed" by the condo owner. 

Pipat Thai tourist minister says open the country now or 50% of Thai tourist business goes down the tube!

He said “let this be a gift to the Thai people”???? What people???

the rich owners of these businesses??

I say hell no ... I don’t want the CV!!!

The whole world is locking down and this guy....???? 
No!!!

5 hours ago, tonray said:

Some areas where foreigners don't make up the bulk of visits are BOOMING. Went to Bang Saen Beach this weekend...got stiffed by private condo owner who failed to show up....took half a day to find a hotel with an available room. Traffic a nightmare...wall to wall people in every restuarant and the beack walk was packed. I think Thailand's tourist areas will evolve (or devolve) as the case may be to attract and accomodate domestic tourists and do just fine...it will just take some time.

Domestic tourism will not fill the massive void left by little foreign tourism. Also, any shift away from such a big tourism industry must coincide with displaced people learning to do new things. This is Thailand's challenge. With a pathetic education system and far too much national pride, the outcome is easily predicted.