By Erich Parpart

 

Tourism is clearly recovering, based on increases in arrivals and new travel businesses, the government said on Tuesday.

 

“The tourism sector is showing a clear sign of recovering which can be seen in the rising number of foreign tourists where more than 4 million people have visited the country in the first 8 months of 2022,” said government deputy spokeswoman Ratchada Thanadirek.

 

“At the same time, the Department of Business Development at the Ministry of Commerce also reported that there were 549 new travel businesses with a combined registered capital of 989 million Baht have been approved for operating licenses within the first 7 months of this year, up 169% and 226% respectively,” she said.

 

The government expects 7-10 million foreign visitors in 2022 compared to 428,000 in 2021 but it is still far short of nearly 40 million in 2019.

 

Full story: https://www.thaienquirer.com/43532/tourism-is-clearly-recovering-with-more-tourists-and-new-travel-businesses-the-government-said/

 

-- © Copyright Thai Enquirer 2022-08-30

 

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2 minutes ago, webfact said:

“The tourism sector is showing a clear sign of recovering which can be seen in the rising number of foreign tourists where more than 4 million people have visited the country in the first 8 months of 2022,”

Guess they have learned to settle and promote this as a winner, yet

 

3 minutes ago, webfact said:

“At the same time, the Department of Business Development at the Ministry of Commerce also reported that there were 549 new travel businesses with a combined registered capital of 989 million Baht have been approved for operating licenses within the first 7 months of this year, up 169% and 226% respectively,”

How many went out of business over the past 2 years, and what is the percentage between now and then of companies in business.....I can see the increases are exponential in growth of new companies since the beginning of the year, but we need the prior numbers to know if it is growth from those lost or what.....

4m in 8 months down from nearly 40m a year pre-covid.

 

If by year end the figures miraculously get to 6m it's a mere 85% drop in numbers ????

 

 

RAZZ

 

 

They might have used a photo that represented the title/headline rather than a photo of an empty airport!

I wonder how many of the 549 "new" travel businesses are actually brand new operations and how many are registered by speculators buying existing distressed businesses at a knockdown price?

2 hours ago, webfact said:

“At the same time, the Department of Business Development at the Ministry of Commerce also reported that there were 549 new travel businesses with a combined registered capital of 989 million Baht have been approved for operating licenses within the first 7 months of this year, up 169% and 226% respectively,” she said.

Good to hear, and how many are left at the end of this year??? How many couldn't manage are bankrupted??

Have they lifted the PCR requirement for the unvaccinated yet? Vietnam looks more hassle-free, at least for tourists who don’t look for night life. In general, vacation expenditures will stay low, energy prices multiplying will take care of that.

So just a 90% fall to crown the generals tenure with a look on web cam taxi to prove it  ????

You get proud of what you can.
 

I can't stop myself to notice that In the French news they are actually many reported that the tourism industry in France is not only back to the pre-covid level with domestic tourists compensating the lack of China and Russian visitor, but they also make more money (estimated at an average of 14%  from 2019 summer).
Current estimation says 2022 will see more tourist than 2019 for the whole year (so more than 90 millions).
 

Thailand has decided to focus on "quality tourist", didnt support the small buisness who are moslty gone now, and ask the surviving hotel to increase their price.
In the same time, french have heavily subventions his industry during the pandemic (paying people to stay at home), resulting in even less bankrupcy than a normal year, and  now trying to get back as many peoples as possible promoting cheaper way to stay in the country (like the camping).

That realy show the ability of a gouvernement to save the day when he do the rights things or bring the doom when he think face and my friends first.

     My Thai partner and I are visiting Samui with some of his family; neither of us has ever been here before.  Really beautiful island and we are having a wonderful time.  There are some tourists around here and there but not nearly enough to support all the tourists businesses.  Many closed shops, many for sale and for rent signs.  Like we observed when we visited Koh Chang last December, our big, higher-end resort where we are staying here in Samui seems to be doing ok with enough business to stay open. 

    So many of the smaller places look to be really struggling--just not enough tourists yet.  Today the weather was great and we had lunch at a wonderful seafood restaurant right on the water with beautiful views.  Delicious meal, terrific service.  Probably about a 35-table restaurant.  When we were there, customers at just 5 of the tables, including ours.  It was the same yesterday at another great restaurant we ate at.

 

4 minutes ago, newnative said:

     My Thai partner and I are visiting Samui with some of his family; neither of us has ever been here before.  Really beautiful island and we are having a wonderful time.  There are some tourists around here and there but not nearly enough to support all the tourists businesses.  Many closed shops, many for sale and for rent signs.  Like we observed when we visited Koh Chang last December, our big, higher-end resort where we are staying here in Samui seems to be doing ok with enough business to stay open. 

    So many of the smaller places look to be really struggling--just not enough tourists yet.  Today the weather was great and we had lunch at a wonderful seafood restaurant right on the water with beautiful views.  Delicious meal, terrific service.  Probably about a 35-table restaurant.  When we were there, customers at just 5 of the tables, including ours.  It was the same yesterday at another great restaurant we ate at.

 

It is now the true low season as many who traveled over the summer have returned to the west so the kids or Uni students could return to school which started in the US last week, and this week.  The global economy has also given tourism the world over a few hiccups.

double post deleted.

Edited August 30, 20223 yr by steven100

Close the borders.

Beneficial to all.

15 minutes ago, newnative said:

There are some tourists around here and there but not nearly enough to support all the tourists businesses.  Many closed shops, many for sale and for rent signs. 

So many of the smaller places look to be really struggling--just not enough tourists yet. 

That's great news and thanks for sharing your experience.  I doubt it will get back to pre-covid numbers.  Don't forget this is low-season hence no tourists. 

 

With the geopolitical problems at hand. Thailand will be lucky to get half of the 2019 numbers EVER again IMO.  Interesting to see in the next few years how Thailand fairs.

Edited August 30, 20223 yr by Gknrd

I'm in Pai after a long stay in Chiang Mai Old City. Both seem moderately busy for a post-covid rainy season. But these are popular places. I'll bet a tourist bound for Ubon finds plenty of discounted hotel rooms.

 

I def think that inflation and heating costs poverty will at lest moderately dent the Euro-arrivals in season. On the other hand, there are the hard core Thai-ophiles like me with pent up demand who are determined to be here. 

 

So my very safe prediction is a semi-full Dec/Jan and a steep fall off mid-January.

19 hours ago, webfact said:

Tourism is clearly recovering, based on increases in arrivals and new travel businesses, the government said on Tuesday.

As it is globally...

12 hours ago, ThailandRyan said:

It is now the true low season as many who traveled over the summer have returned to the west so the kids or Uni students could return to school which started in the US last week, and this week.  The global economy has also given tourism the world over a few hiccups.

It’s not just Americans who come here people from around the world come Samui is full of empty shops with some big businesses having gone bust it will take at least 3 more years to see a recovery prior to COVID let’s not kid our selves the global economy is in crisis and is getting worse