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[snoop1130]

 

Thailand is set to exceed its target of 27 million foreign arrivals this year, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand. However, it’s also set to fall short of its target of 1.6-trillion baht in tourism revenue. It might be the first target set by the TAT that is actually achieved in the past three years.

 

Still, the excuses came rolling out after Thai tourism not reaching revenue targets.

 

TAT governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool says there are several factors affecting revenue, including slow economic recovery worldwide and a slow return to pre-pandemic status for the aviation industry.

 

By Peter Roche

 

Full story: Phuket GO 2023-12-07

 

- 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.

 

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[neeray]

What's a million one way or the other! Yesterday (or the day before), I read an article here that the 25 million target would not be met, short by over a million. Today, the opposite.

[hotchilli]

12 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

It might be the first target set by the TAT that is actually achieved in the past three years.

Just goes to show the BS they've been coming out with...

[Phil1964]

Still has'nt dawned on them the price of flights to Thailand is out of kilter compared to other more inspiring long haul places to venture off to for yours holidays and adventures outside of and away from Europe and North America. 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by Phil1964

[kinyara]

2 hours ago, neeray said:

What's a million one way or the other! Yesterday (or the day before), I read an article here that the 25 million target would not be met, short by over a million. Today, the opposite.

 

No idea where you read that as it was widely reported they reached 25 million on December 3rd.

[kinyara]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Just goes to show the BS they've been coming out with...

 

Garbage article from one of these online advertising sites pretending to be a news outlet, TAT's target last year was 10 million and they exceeded that.

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Just goes to show the BS they've been coming out with...

I wonder where they are all going.... not much space for them on James Bond Island I hear.....

[Mike Lister]

1 hour ago, Phil1964 said:

Still has'nt dawned on them the price of flights to Thailand is out of kilter compared to other more inspiring long haul places to venture off to for yours holidays and adventures outside of and away from Europe and North America. 

 

 

Thailand has always been a regional destination and relied on regional visitors rather than long haul visitors. Malaysia continues to be the major source of international tourists, previously it was China. Long haul visitors from the West are very much in the minority.

 

1. Malaysia: 367,530 visitors
2. China: 328,375 visitors
3. India: 131,230 visitors
4. Russia: 115,743 visitors
5. South Korea: 95,229 visitors
6. Vietnam: 84,221 visitors
7. United States: 70,977 visitors
8. United Kingdom: 70,089 visitors
9. Laos: 68,204 visitors
10. Hong Kong: 67,771 visitors

https://www.thailand.go.th/issue-focus-detail/009_165

 

Here's the link to the stats from previous years, it's a very similar story, you have to go back to 2009 before you see European tourist levels being the same as East Asia:

 

https://ittdashboard.nso.go.th/preview2en.php?id_project=124

Edited December 8, 2023 by Mike Lister

[Caldera]

15 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

However, it’s also set to fall short of its target of 1.6-trillion baht in tourism revenue.

 

As per usual, there's a significant mismatch between those Thailand thinks it can attract and those who actually come.

[Mike Lister]

7 minutes ago, Caldera said:

 

As per usual, there's a significant mismatch between those Thailand thinks it can attract and those who actually come.

I don't believe that, no marketing department ever hits their exact forecast, last year they underestimated. The problem this year has been that the average spend per international tourist is down from 50k to 42k which magnifies an otherwise fairly small shortfall in their estimates.

[ignore it]

The TAT public relations department has revealed the source of their press releases.

[nobodysfriend]

16 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

 

They are well known by now for issuing statements that have no relation to reality .

Not worth reading .

[Emdog]

18 minutes ago, ignore it said:

The TAT public relations department has revealed the source of their press releases.

Choices should be "good" and "better" if coming from TAT

[crazykopite]

Of  course they will they just pluck a figure out of the air and announce it no need to provide confirmation!

[jcmj]

Considering they gave a much higher figure after the first quarter then revised it every other month downwards, it’s no wonder why they will hit their target. They have no clue and are always changing the figures to make themselves look good. 🤪

[newnative]

2 hours ago, Mike Lister said:

Thailand has always been a regional destination and relied on regional visitors rather than long haul visitors. Malaysia continues to be the major source of international tourists, previously it was China. Long haul visitors from the West are very much in the minority.

 

1. Malaysia: 367,530 visitors
2. China: 328,375 visitors
3. India: 131,230 visitors
4. Russia: 115,743 visitors
5. South Korea: 95,229 visitors
6. Vietnam: 84,221 visitors
7. United States: 70,977 visitors
8. United Kingdom: 70,089 visitors
9. Laos: 68,204 visitors
10. Hong Kong: 67,771 visitors

https://www.thailand.go.th/issue-focus-detail/009_165

 

Here's the link to the stats from previous years, it's a very similar story, you have to go back to 2009 before you see European tourist levels being the same as East Asia:

 

https://ittdashboard.nso.go.th/preview2en.php?id_project=124

      I think many countries attracting tourists would, naturally, draw their largest numbers of vsitors from regional nations.  France, for example, the number 1 tourist destination.  The top 7 slots for visitors by country to France in 2018 were nearby nations, GB, Germany, Belgium, Italy, etc.  You have to go down to #8 before you hit a longer-distance country, the USA.  The top 2 countries sending visitors to the USA are Canada and Mexico.  I didn't bother to check but I suspect other European countries, such as Italy or Germany, would look fairly similar to France.

     So, it's not an anomaly that Thailand is now attracting more regional visitors than long-distance visitors.  It's just taken awhile for citizens of regional countries to finally have the money to travel internationally--and, many have been taking their first trips regionally.  From 2015 to 2019, western visitors to Thailand did not decrease, although that is the impression a number of AN posters have.  That impression likely stems from the numbers increasing signigficantly during that period from regional countries, especially China and India, with western visitors getting somewhat lost in the much bigger crowds of Asians.

[newnative]

21 minutes ago, jcmj said:

Considering they gave a much higher figure after the first quarter then revised it every other month downwards, it’s no wonder why they will hit their target. They have no clue and are always changing the figures to make themselves look good. 🤪

     I don't think this is actually the case.  As the year goes on, and they have more information on tourist numbers, the forecasts are naturally adjusted--sometimes up, sometimes down.   It's a moving target, and always will be as the year progresses.

[kinyara]

2 hours ago, jcmj said:

Considering they gave a much higher figure after the first quarter then revised it every other month downwards, it’s no wonder why they will hit their target. They have no clue and are always changing the figures to make themselves look good. 🤪

 

Simply not the case. At the start of the year the clearly stated target was a range of between 24-30 million, fairly broad and acknowledged by them to be heavily dependent on the level of the Chinese recovery. Whilst they did downgrade the likely figure from China from 5 million to the now expected 3.5 million as it became clear they were staying away, the overall figure has stayed consistent in the mid-point of their target and has been reported as such.