Thai tourism faces strain from sluggish Chinese, Japanese economies

[webfact]

 

Tourism operators in Thailand are facing significant challenges due to the sluggish economies of China and Japan and an uneven recovery in Thai tourism that benefits larger operators.

 

A recent survey by the Thai Hotels Association (THA) and the Bank of Thailand revealed that 29% of three-star or lower-rated hotels have been severely impacted by interest rate hikes and may require debt restructuring.

 

The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) anticipates this trend continuing into the third quarter, with 34% of respondents uncertain about the Thai tourism outlook and 19% expecting to earn less than in the previous quarter.

 

Chamnan Srisawat, president of the TCT, stated that facilitating equal business opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) poses a significant hurdle for the new government. “After Covid-19, a K-shaped recovery has been apparent as the rich got richer, while SMEs, which account for 34% of tourism enterprises, severely struggled to maintain their businesses,” Chamnan explained.

 

by Alex Morgan

Photo: EPA-EFE

 

Full story: https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/economy/thai-tourism-faces-strain-from-sluggish-chinese-japanese-economies

 

-- The Thaiger 2023-08-30

 

- Cigna offers a range of visa-compliant plans that meet the minimum requirement of medical treatment, including COVID-19, up to THB 3m. For more information on all expat health insurance plans click here.

 

Get our Daily Newsletter - Click HERE to subscribe

[retarius]

'Hope is not a strategy' as is widely quoted. TAT, TCT and THA are filled with hopers, not strategists. In business one should always anticipate bad things and plan so that it does not kill off your business, because bad things do happen from time to time. 

 

Demand is clearly not what it was for Thai tourism. The causes for this need to be researched and understood, not simply pulled out your <deleted> or imagined by the elite. Saying I want more Indians to come, or like Thaksin (everybody's favourite politician) used to say, he wants wealthy tourists. You have to do more than 'want' something to happen. You have to make it happen.

 

Now I'm no expert at all in tourism, but I have been to many tourist hot spots and wouldn't dream of going back because of reasons we are all familiar with, like getting ripped off, dirty hotel rooms, poor local transport, dirty sea water, hawkers on the beach etc etc. but do some research and see if staff training, for example, could improve the tourists' experience of Thailand for is it really 'they would love to come but don't have the money'?

[jaideedave]

41 minutes ago, retarius said:

'Hope is not a strategy' as is widely quoted. TAT, TCT and THA are filled with hopers, not strategists. In business one should always anticipate bad things and plan so that it does not kill off your business, because bad things do happen from time to time. 

 

Demand is clearly not what it was for Thai tourism. The causes for this need to be researched and understood, not simply pulled out your <deleted> or imagined by the elite. Saying I want more Indians to come, or like Thaksin (everybody's favourite politician) used to say, he wants wealthy tourists. You have to do more than 'want' something to happen. You have to make it happen.

 

Now I'm no expert at all in tourism, but I have been to many tourist hot spots and wouldn't dream of going back because of reasons we are all familiar with, like getting ripped off, dirty hotel rooms, poor local transport, dirty sea water, hawkers on the beach etc etc. but do some research and see if staff training, for example, could improve the tourists' experience of Thailand for is it really 'they would love to come but don't have the money'?

My step daughter works at King Power and she tells me sales are way way down. Previously busloads of Chinese would arrive and some were good spenders. Not any more. These times they are juggling staff and inventory . It appears they bet everything to remain the same. She is now looking for another job and she's been there a while.

[daveAustin]

Don’t want locals to suffer, but is it not a good thing if fewer Chinese hordes show up? Just swamps services and makes the experience worse for everyone else. If it takes the Chinese economy to suffer to keep them at bay then so be it. Fewer groups and more independent visitors please. Airports are busy, but can’t see the numbers of old back again or similar kind of spending, since everything is that much more expensive and people have less money. Thailand, you gotta adapt!

[Celsius]

18 minutes ago, jaideedave said:

My step daughter works at King Power and she tells me sales are way way down. Previously busloads of Chinese would arrive and some were good spenders. Not any more. These times they are juggling staff and inventory . It appears they bet everything to remain the same. She is now looking for another job and she's been there a while.

 

Doubt she will get anything better than King Power. 

 

My wife quit from a Japanese company 1 year ago thinking it would be easy for her. She changed 2 jobs with a lower salary. Only by pure luck because I told her to put her resume on LinkedIn did she get hired remotely by US company 5 months ago. But even then although the salary is higher, all the benefits like healthcare and provident fund are gone.

 

I know King Power has both because one of her friends works there.

[jaideedave]

8 minutes ago, Celsius said:

 

Doubt she will get anything better than King Power. 

 

My wife quit from a Japanese company 1 year ago thinking it would be easy for her. She changed 2 jobs with a lower salary. Only by pure luck because I told her to put her resume on LinkedIn did she get hired remotely by US company 5 months ago. But even then although the salary is higher, all the benefits like healthcare and provident fund are gone.

 

I know King Power has both because one of her friends works there.

Yes, I'm not knocking KP she's done well by them. Pre - covid they promoted her to Supervisor.( Pattaya) After CV they hired a ton of new employees anticipating pre CV sales which never materialized.Even her manager suggested things were not looking good and if she had the opportunity to move on to take it.

She's just testing the waters at this stage. She went to uni in BKK and has some valuable contacts there who have keeping her informed of any good jobs there.

[smedly]

maybe they have realised there are better options than Thailand and pattaya to spend their vacation

[Adumbration]

No need to worry! 

 

The new PM has meet with the Airlines to solve this problem!

[Adumbration]

1 hour ago, daveAustin said:

Don’t want locals to suffer, but is it not a good thing if fewer Chinese hordes show up? Just swamps services and makes the experience worse for everyone else. If it takes the Chinese economy to suffer to keep them at bay then so be it. Fewer groups and more independent visitors please. Airports are busy, but can’t see the numbers of old back again or similar kind of spending, since everything is that much more expensive and people have less money. Thailand, you gotta adapt!

Chinese econom is not suffering.  It is collapsing.

[malibukid]

Thailand needs to clean up its act

[Guderian]

It's so damnably selfish of the Chinese and Japanese to put their own national economic and financial situation ahead of the well-being of Thailand's tourism industry, lol!

[smew]

Reality: tourism hit by bad publicity resulting from:

tourist rip-off gangs, double pricing, BiB actions, soi dogs, motorbike noise, polluted seas, angry taxi drivers... etc..  

[Jumbo1968]

If airfares drop it might encourage more tourists but on my recent trip to the U.K. the flights were more or less full  both ways in economy therefore fares are not going be reduced by airlines.

I travelled Business Class from Dubai to BKK, A380 handful of passengers in Business Class, 2 in First Class no idea how Emirates make money on that flight. On a side note the food was disgusting, economy meal served on plates but it appeared to have been reheated several times over. I have sent a complaint to Emirates but no reply as yet.

[Bangkok Barry]

2 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

If airfares drop it might encourage more tourists but on my recent trip to the U.K. the flights were more or less full  both ways in economy therefore fares are not going be reduced by airlines.

I travelled Business Class from Dubai to BKK, A380 handful of passengers in Business Class, 2 in First Class no idea how Emirates make money on that flight. On a side note the food was disgusting, economy meal served on plates but it appeared to have been reheated several times over. I have sent a complaint to Emirates but no reply as yet.

I wonder how many of these full flights contain passengers who are merely in transit. I've many times been on full flights from Europe but seen only 50 or so people collecting luggage.

[skorp13]

Whoever is saying there's no Chinese tourists should come hang out around my place LOL

[pookett]

Only TCT, TAT and THA dared to  dream up predictions different to the blatantly obvious.

Chinese group-tour-hordes only put money into Chinese owned businesses, no real gains for Thailand.

The independent travellers market is where the money is, sanity NOT vanity.

Poor recent publicity for Thailand with tourism incidents and political wobbles only add to the misery.

All that before you factor in the world wide problems effecting long-haul tourism in particular.

Edited August 30, 2023 by pookett

[Jumbo1968]

4 minutes ago, Bangkok Barry said:

I wonder how many of these full flights contain passengers who are merely in transit. I've many times been on full flights from Europe but seen only 50 or so people collecting luggage.

I flew from Utapao to Dubai, looked arabic families people returning home, Fight from Newcastle to Dubai was tourists, Dubai to BKK looked a mixture of returning Thais and tourists.

[Xonax]

We just went back to Bangkok from Phuket. Almost no chinese tourists in the airport or on the plane. But I have never seen so many arabs in my life!

[Umlungu]

2 hours ago, smedly said:

maybe they have realised there are better options than Thailand and pattaya to spend their vacation

Just booked 4 week trip to Laos.

[Phil1964]

I holidayed in Thailand this month from the UK. While flights out and back, (Eva Air - LHR / BKK), were full, Brits were a minority on both flights.

Here in the UK we have high inflation, GBP exchange rates are rubbish compared to last 20years averages, for many people stagnant / declining wages are a reality, (I was made redundant 2 weeks before flying out), and airfares to SE Asia are ridiculous compared to heading westwards. In my circle the only people I know going to Thailand or long haul are those who have family in Thailand, or who are well-off. People on £40k  / year simply can't afford long haul family holidays anymore...

[Trip Hop]

16 minutes ago, Jumbo1968 said:

If airfares drop it might encourage more tourists but on my recent trip to the U.K. the flights were more or less full  both ways in economy therefore fares are not going be reduced by airlines.

I travelled Business Class from Dubai to BKK, A380 handful of passengers in Business Class, 2 in First Class no idea how Emirates make money on that flight. On a side note the food was disgusting, economy meal served on plates but it appeared to have been reheated several times over. I have sent a complaint to Emirates but no reply as yet.

The flights are fairly full because to the best of my knowledge, none of the major airlines have reinstated their full pre-covid schedules? I used to fly Qatar Airways from the UK with a short transit in Doha for a reasonable price. Since BA have stopped flying direct to BKK and are sharing with Qatar, a one stop with Qatar is dearer than a direct with Thai. Until one of the majors breaks rank and reinstates their full schedule, we are stuck with high prices as the airlines will most probably be happy to take a slightly reduced profit for less risk. Add this to the exchange rate of the last 4-5 years and Thailand is no longer a cheap destination. 

[BarraMarra]

Same old Excuses blame everyone else but themselves. Can't carry on using Covid as a factor that was Thailand's fault for not opening quicker like the West. Most of the reasons Tourism is in decline and will continue to decline. Most posters on here know the main reasons but as usual the Thai government ignores the warnings and carries on there golden egg dreams.

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, retarius said:

'Hope is not a strategy' as is widely quoted. TAT, TCT and THA are filled with hopers, not strategists. In business one should always anticipate bad things and plan so that it does not kill off your business, because bad things do happen from time to time.

When all else fails they have Buddha...  ????

[Toby1947]

2 hours ago, Adumbration said:

Chinese econom is not suffering.  It is collapsing.

Good, keep the monsters where they belong 

[Umlungu]

33 minutes ago, smew said:

Reality: tourism hit by bad publicity resulting from:

tourist rip-off gangs, double pricing, BiB actions, soi dogs, motorbike noise, polluted seas, angry taxi drivers... etc..  

.... being threatened, intimidated and sued for bad reviews .....

[hotchilli]

5 hours ago, webfact said:

Tourism operators in Thailand are facing significant challenges due to the sluggish economies of China and Japan and an uneven recovery in Thai tourism that benefits larger operators

Then I suggest you think outside of the box...

[Toby1947]

8 minutes ago, Umlungu said:

Just booked 4 week trip to Laos.

Laos great place, lovely people much nicer than Thais they even drive sensibly ????????????

[Jumbo1968]

9 minutes ago, Trip Hop said:

The flights are fairly full because to the best of my knowledge, none of the major airlines have reinstated their full pre-covid schedules? I used to fly Qatar Airways from the UK with a short transit in Doha for a reasonable price. Since BA have stopped flying direct to BKK and are sharing with Qatar, a one stop with Qatar is dearer than a direct with Thai. Until one of the majors breaks rank and reinstates their full schedule, we are stuck with high prices as the airlines will most probably be happy to take a slightly reduced profit for less risk. Add this to the exchange rate of the last 4-5 years and Thailand is no longer a cheap destination. 

For some reason B.A. said they won’t reinstate the direct flight from Heathrow, could be it’s not profitable only 1 flight a day and having to use 2 flight crews. When used the flight pre Covid it was more or less full.

[soalbundy]

40 minutes ago, smew said:

Reality: tourism hit by bad publicity resulting from:

tourist rip-off gangs, double pricing, BiB actions, soi dogs, motorbike noise, polluted seas, angry taxi drivers... etc..  

I think it's more to do with lack of disposable income. The general cost of living and soaring rents and mortgages not just in the West but everywhere means a local holiday if at all.

[spidermike007]

It is amazing how these guys go on and on and on about what they are intending to do, and how many tourists will magically appear, and never, ever talk about the sacrifices they are willing to make, to attract these new businesses and investors, and tourists.  A true COTU (Thailand is the center of the known universe) mentality, and it is so far from reality, it boggles the mind. Millions of jobs have been lost. What is being proposed to help those families get back on their feet?

 

The one principal here, that they have still not come to grips with, is that Thailand needs the world, 100x more than the world needs Thailand. 

 

The recovery will be slow. And things may get worse, before they get better. The low numbers are not a surprise.