Arrival of Chinese Tour Groups Still Unexpectedly Low in Thailand, Says Leading Thai Tourism Association

[alex8912]

1 hour ago, nigelforbes said:

I suspect you've never lived in a country that is dependent on tourism to such a significant degree and where the English language newspapers publish the Tourist Boards estimates or forecasts. Every significant business and sector has forecasts, not all of them get shared with the public. But since the TAT forecasts are shared, it's not unreasonable that they set expectations as a result. After all, what's the  better alternative, depress the entire country and say our forecasts are completely naff and nobody's coming,.....come on now.

And how is that working out for Thailand then?   

[nigelforbes]

5 minutes ago, alex8912 said:

And how is that working out for Thailand then?   

Much better than the alternative I imagine.

[Taco]

This headline has made my day! Thank you Buddha 

[sandyf]

4 hours ago, geisha said:

Chinese holidays are over for a while.

You are free to believe that April 5th is a while away.

[Zapitapi]

3 hours ago, BoganInParasite said:

Don't underestimate how devastated the Chinese economy is and the severe impact it has had on the disposable income of the folks that once travelled abroad.

chinas economy isnt devastated on the contrary ..same as russian eco its up and has great potential overall..the peeps in many countries are scared by e.g. geo political games and do not know what tomorrow holds..so in my view its reasonable to cut back at luxuries like holiday..except russians they are in a great spot with their currency buying power almost doubled due to mislead western sanctions

[sandyf]

2 hours ago, nigelforbes said:

I suspect you've never lived in a country that is dependent on tourism to such a significant degree and where the English language newspapers publish the Tourist Boards estimates or forecasts. Every significant business and sector has forecasts, not all of them get shared with the public. But since the TAT forecasts are shared, it's not unreasonable that they set expectations as a result. After all, what's the  better alternative, depress the entire country and say our forecasts are completely naff and nobody's coming,.....come on now.

Quite. The bulk of the rhetoric on here is fuelled by some ill conceived idea of superiority and unlimited knowledge.

TAT has a job to do and in line with every other tourist dept in the world they talk it up rather than down.

[Rimmer]

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[bbbbooboo]

hmmmmm....sooooo sad

[jollyhangmon]

26 minutes ago, Zapitapi said:

chinas economy isnt devastated on the contrary ..same as russian eco its up and has great potential overall..the peeps in many countries are scared by e.g. geo political games and do not know what tomorrow holds..so in my view its reasonable to cut back at luxuries like holiday..except russians they are in a great spot with their currency buying power almost doubled due to mislead western sanctions

 

russian eco its up and has great potential overall ... ?? ... 

 

... yeah sure buddinsky, the ruxxies are in the best f'n spot ever right now, 555 ... talking about yet another hilarious shill for that tweeker wanna-be Ghengis Khan ...

 

Keep it up ... 

 

 

[crazykopite]

Don’t know why he is complaining Thailand is currently  overrun by Russians who are running away from conscription into Putins war 

[crazykopite]

2 hours ago, Zapitapi said:

chinas economy isnt devastated on the contrary ..same as russian eco its up and has great potential overall..the peeps in many countries are scared by e.g. geo political games and do not know what tomorrow holds..so in my view its reasonable to cut back at luxuries like holiday..except russians they are in a great spot with their currency buying power almost doubled due to mislead western sanctions

Have to assume you listened to Putins 1.50 hour speech yesterday how  great the economy was I thought it was total  BS

[Caldera]

9 hours ago, webfact said:

The ATTA president associated this unexpected phenomenal with insufficient flights.

That's delusional. If those tour group companies needed more capacity for their customers, they'd know what to do.

 

I'd suspect there simply isn't more demand at this point, for reasons more to do with issues within China than anything else.

[gearbox]

12 minutes ago, Caldera said:

That's delusional. If those tour group companies needed more capacity for their customers, they'd know what to do.

 

I'd suspect there simply isn't more demand at this point, for reasons more to do with issues within China than anything else.

There are not enough flights, it takes time for the airlines to get permits and add capacity. AFAIK the first direct flight from China to Samui is supposed to happen this Sunday, 26th.

 

In other news Air France is squealing that the Chinese airlines have unfair advantage as they have access to the Russian air space, which makes the fly times between Europe and China/East Asia up to 3 hours shorter. China Eastern and the others are ramping up capacity to take advantage and increase their market share

[John Drake]

10 hours ago, webfact said:

Sisdivachr disclosed to the Thai media that most Chinese arrivals in Thailand were free independent travelers (FIT), which refers to tourists who travel on their own without a tour guide or joining a tour group.

Do triad members travel FIT or in tour groups?

[PETERTHEEATER]

Attention all prawns, Bsathe easy.

[BritScot]

9 hours ago, Gknrd said:

China is a walking time bomb, US economy is heading for recession. War in Russia, China will start supplying Russia with weapons, accompanied by mass sanctions. China will have no choice but to invade Taiwan to boost nationalism.   But, of course Thailand will boast a blistering tourist trade next week.  And all is well in the LOS's.

I hope your wrong about Taiwan but maybe it will be needed as a necessary evil needed to destroy the CCP. The logistics of such a war is one the West would struggle with. To invade a land by sea and air that is hostile to you would be insane, even Hitler never did it.

[Chongalulu]

4 hours ago, crazykopite said:

Don’t know why he is complaining Thailand is currently  overrun by Russians who are running away from conscription into Putins war 

Yes and I hear they all thoroughly enjoyed last night’s Championship league match too… ???? 

[Chongalulu]

4 hours ago, crazykopite said:

Have to assume you listened to Putins 1.50 hour speech yesterday how  great the economy was I thought it was total  BS

You’re quite correct,there might be a narrow and short term benefit from exchange rates,but sanctions are having a devastating effect on their medium/longer term outlook. They simply can’t access the vital technical components to support any sort of industry . Apart from gas/oil which are retreating from their artificial price highs they have nothing to offer in terms of world trade. It’s economy will be devastated.

[Mavideol]

that was yesterday, today TAT contradicts it and now the "expectations" are up to the roof  555

 

Thailand expects a big jump in tourists from China

[billd766]

10 hours ago, RichardColeman said:

Course not.

1. The Chinese economy is floundering 

2. They have shut down many of the Chinese people making money off the non-Thai profit tours.

3. Covid is still rife in China and they fear welded in isolation on return.

 

And what are the idiots in charge of this country proposing - yep - taxing the ones that do come. What a total joke of a country Thailand is becoming

Sadly, Thailand the country is not the joke, it is the people running it who are the sad joke and the blot or stain on the face of the country.

[orchis]

15 hours ago, webfact said:

free independent travelers (FIT)

FIT = flexible independent traveler(s)

[mithunonthenet]

Are they not aware of the economic situation China is in, thanks to Zero COVID and the real estate crisis?

[Selatan]

Chinese group tour travel starts again to 20 countries, but independent travellers have more choices than ever

 

Quote

Group package tours will play a reduced role in Chinese outbound tourism say the authors of a new handbook written for the global tourism industry.

 

Quote

But demand for group travel is likely to diminish. As the Handbook reiterates, “First-time travellers from lower-tier Chinese cities might still cling to cheap mass market package tours, but for most destinations and service providers they will create more problems than profit.” It continues: “The pandemic has underlined the vitality of travel planning freedom, and exploring destinations through a personal lens. More Chinese travellers will seek the flexibility to revise their itineraries on demand and create add-on activities while in the destination, which group tours cannot offer.”

 

[newnative]

4 hours ago, Selatan said:

Chinese group tour travel starts again to 20 countries, but independent travellers have more choices than ever

 

 

 

This was already happening in 2019.  61% of the Chinese visitors to Thailand that year, over 6.5 million, were independent travelers.

[Umlungu]

Great news. Keep it that way.

[Umlungu]

On 2/22/2023 at 5:31 PM, orchis said:

FIT = flexible independent traveler(s)

Fully Independent Travellers

[Zapitapi]

On 2/22/2023 at 12:21 PM, crazykopite said:

Have to assume you listened to Putins 1.50 hour speech yesterday how  great the economy was I thought it was total  BS

sorry my dear but your surely qualified thoughts are colliding with reality and facts.. 

[sscc]

On 2/22/2023 at 7:57 AM, mithunonthenet said:

Are they not aware of the economic situation China is in, thanks to Zero COVID and the real estate crisis?

Your info Outdated by ........ ? 

 

Western world predicted the sudden shift in China Covid policy announced in late Nov 2022 would drag all economic activities for 3-6 months.  Turned out the drag and slowdown  empty streets throughout most place lasted 5 weeks  ( early Dec 2022 to first week of Jan 2023 ).   

 

Did you hear anything on China's Evergrande Property Group in the last 4 months ? 

The Government had steadied the sinking ship on the real estate issue nationwide  and the worst had been over.   That's why nothing on the media,  particularly WESTERN MEDIA lately. 

 

Smarten up.     Non-Western media and Non-English media are far more updated and ahead in reporting China and CCP news. 

 

[sscc]

On 2/22/2023 at 3:11 PM, Selatan said:

Chinese group tour travel starts again to 20 countries, but independent travellers have more choices than ever

 

Whoever wrote this second paragraph,  I think there is a misconception. 

The Shift towards Higher FIT percentage and lower group tour percentage is more about Repeated Trip  ---  second/third timers are surely eager to go on their own rather than in a tour group.  

 

On 2/22/2023 at 3:11 PM, Selatan said:

 

Whoever wrote this second paragraph,  I think there is a misconception. 

The Shift towards Higher FIT percentage and lower group tour percentage is more about Repeated Trip  ---  second/third timers are surely eager to visit on their own rather than in a tour group.  

 

Thailand tourism had kept growing over many years and decades ever since 1970s' are largely attributed to success in drawing repeated tourists to the Kingdom. 

[bokningar]

They might have heard that Thailand is full of Russians and decided not to come