Tourism Authority Of Thailand Targets Affluent Chinese Visitors

[nikster]

Great news for Pattaya!

Nah. Spoke to a Chinese friend of mine recently - he is one of those "affluent" Chinese, e.g. he can afford to travel. He went on a package tour Thailand. Loved it but hated Pattaya. It's a different kind of tourist. Doesn't help that chinese don't find the bar girls attractive at all either but it's not just that.

[Scott]

There may be some real culture shock for a lot of folks in Thailand. I have a number of friends from China and Hong Kong and I love them dearly, but when we go out in public here it can be a little embarassing. They are quite loud, rather rude (to strangers), pushy, cheap and like to complain. There eating habits, compared to the standards in Thailand, also leave a lot to be desired.

These are not 'complaints', per se. These are cultural differences.

[geriatrickid]

'LaoPo' provided some good information.

2 Items that build on it;

i) Article discussing the increase in Asian visitors to Japan.

http

://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/26/business...6tourists.html

ii) Now that there are direct charter flights between Taiwan & China, I have a feeling the mainland Chinese and Taiwanese will visit each other before they go to Thailand .

Interesting to note that while EVA was cutting flights to everywhere else, it was increasing its charter service with the mainland. Chinese people wealthy enough to travel don't want smog or crowds or something they can get at home. They want something different and modern. Upscale Chinese tourists don't screw around when it comes to quality. It had better work and it had better deliver on some pizzazz or else they aren't going.

Ok, here's something to ponder; Imagine if they built a high speed rail link between China & Vietnam. There would be a sound of whoosh as Vietnam siphoned off the tourists to beautiful clean beaches and cities free of petty crime.

What's that you say? Can't happen for another 2-4 years until Vietnam's tourist business is up to speed? Dang, you'd have a point. But wait, the new fancy rail links will be ready to go near 2012.

http://www.adb.org/Documents/News/VRM/vrm-200702.asp

The Vietnamese government plan and build first before talking. Whereas, the Thai government makes lofty promises and then gets around to considering how to deliver on the promises. I have a hunch that in 5 years time , Vietnam is where there will be more Chinese tourists, not Thailand.

[grantbkk]

I've read a lot of nonsense answers so far...not all of them though.

FACTS:

1. China tourists to Thailand: 2007: 1.003.141 = 6,94% 2006: 1.033.305 = 7,48% -2,92% 2007 versus 2006; %'s are of total Thai inbound tourism.

2. More than 60% or 8.666.779 tourists of total Thai inbound tourism comes from South and East Asia.

Europe counts for 25,51% or 3.689.770 tourists.

The Americas count for 5,65% or 817.564 tourists

Oceania counts for 5,06% or 731.283 tourists

Middle East counts for 3,14% or 453.891 tourists

Africa counts for 0,73% or 104.941 tourists

All numbers and %'s are from TAT.

3. China had 40,96 Million OUTBOUND tourists in 2007; however the vast majority of the 36,3 Million tourists to Asian destinations went to Hong Kong and Macao.

Of the total of 40,96% a mere 2 million went to Europe and just 1 million to the USA.

Border crossings of Mainland Chinese citizens to other Asian countries increased in 2007 compared to 2006 by 20%, most of these trips terminating in Hong Kong and Macao.

Outbound tourism to Non-Asian destinations increased by 10%, with the less popular destinations Africa and Oceania catching up with double-digit growth rates against the more popular destinations Americas and Europe, which register high single-digit growth rates.

Asia amounts for more than 90% of all border crossings, the total number of non-Asian travels is still below 4 million travels.

From: http://www.china-outbound.com/

Thailand should be happy with their 1 Million+ share of Chinese outbound tourists and I doubt VERY MUCH that this number will increase with 50% (or 1,5 Million) in 2009 also due to the declining (growth) economy, worldwide, but also in China.

I really can't believe the absurd nonsense some posters wrote here. What rights do they think they have -as a farang- judging about other tourists from other -Asian- countries ?

It might come as a surprise to some of you but the 60%+ Asian tourists (8,6 Million) to Thailand will increase substantially over the next decades; you better be friendly to those Asian tourists as the number of Farang will decline...sharp !

BTW: did some of you realize Thailand is also in Asia ?

LaoPo

It is really not only the number of tourists, but most important, the amount of money each tourist will spend.

Now, why the tourist board want less package holidays and more affluent tourists.

Anybody wants to extend the number game?

For example:

25% farang spend x-amount of money= y-amount of money per farang;

Now, what are the numbers for asian tourists for the Chinese and other Asian tourists

Also important, how many days tourists will stay, and how much money will be spent per day?

For example, Disneyland in the US, no problem

Disneyland in Europe, problems all over, because the Europeans have more holidays, and spend less money per day.

I do think that Thailand may get problems about the amount of money the Asian tourists will spend per day, and how this money will be distributed.

Gambling, maybe some "social" contacts, hotel occupancy and so on.

Maybe different from the farang?

Of course a lot of Farang will not come back for the obvious reasons, among others the rising cost of flying.

But I guess, there are more reasons in Thailand itself, and I am not talking politics.

Will the Asian tourist accept this?

I really do not know if the change of nationality of the tourists entering Thailand is very important.

What is important is the marketing of Thailand AND the fulfilment of the promises made to tourists.

The problem might become the Asian tourists have different tastes and are less easy to please.

Changing visa rules all the time will not help.

I agree that some Asians have different tastes. From one of the stories on CNN yesterday Thailand has a real opportunity to become a "hub" for a rapidly growing niche market. The Japanese senior porno industry has just gone international so we can expect the pirated choices on our streets very soon.

[Seneque]

What should be the title, "TAT conning Affluent Chinese Tourists out of their Yuans"

Spend so much pumping up this is wonderfuk, beautiful, unseen, Thailand...

When you look around it looks a garbage dump, no wild life, deforestation, muddy and non-summable rivers and inlets...

Gambling...Macao has the largest Gambling Casino in the world... and exotic too...

With the summer olympics coming in a few weeks, I don't think Chinese are wanting to go out so much as they want to show off their "Unseen, Wonderful, fastest train in the world China"...

Also isn't Vietnam their paradise?

a satang for my thoughts...

Just coming back from 'koh Samet' ... indeed a garbage dump, I couldn't believe my eyes and it is a 'national park' !! Baht 200 for foreigners. Never again.

[Sturbuc]

I've read a lot of nonsense answers so far...not all of them though.

FACTS:

1. China tourists to Thailand: 2007: 1.003.141 = 6,94% 2006: 1.033.305 = 7,48% -2,92% 2007 versus 2006; %'s are of total Thai inbound tourism.

2. More than 60% or 8.666.779 tourists of total Thai inbound tourism comes from South and East Asia.

Europe counts for 25,51% or 3.689.770 tourists.

The Americas count for 5,65% or 817.564 tourists

Oceania counts for 5,06% or 731.283 tourists

Middle East counts for 3,14% or 453.891 tourists

Africa counts for 0,73% or 104.941 tourists

All numbers and %'s are from TAT.

3. China had 40,96 Million OUTBOUND tourists in 2007; however the vast majority of the 36,3 Million tourists to Asian destinations went to Hong Kong and Macao.

Of the total of 40,96% a mere 2 million went to Europe and just 1 million to the USA.

Border crossings of Mainland Chinese citizens to other Asian countries increased in 2007 compared to 2006 by 20%, most of these trips terminating in Hong Kong and Macao.

Outbound tourism to Non-Asian destinations increased by 10%, with the less popular destinations Africa and Oceania catching up with double-digit growth rates against the more popular destinations Americas and Europe, which register high single-digit growth rates.

Asia amounts for more than 90% of all border crossings, the total number of non-Asian travels is still below 4 million travels.

From: http://www.china-outbound.com/

Thailand should be happy with their 1 Million+ share of Chinese outbound tourists and I doubt VERY MUCH that this number will increase with 50% (or 1,5 Million) in 2009 also due to the declining (growth) economy, worldwide, but also in China.

I really can't believe the absurd nonsense some posters wrote here. What rights do they think they have -as a farang- judging about other tourists from other -Asian- countries ?

It might come as a surprise to some of you but the 60%+ Asian tourists (8,6 Million) to Thailand will increase substantially over the next decades; you better be friendly to those Asian tourists as the number of Farang will decline...sharp !

BTW: did some of you realize Thailand is also in Asia ?

LaoPo

It is really not only the number of tourists, but most important, the amount of money each tourist will spend.

Now, why the tourist board want less package holidays and more affluent tourists.

Anybody wants to extend the number game?

For example:

25% farang spend x-amount of money= y-amount of money per farang;

Now, what are the numbers for asian tourists for the Chinese and other Asian tourists

Also important, how many days tourists will stay, and how much money will be spent per day?

For example, Disneyland in the US, no problem

Disneyland in Europe, problems all over, because the Europeans have more holidays, and spend less money per day.

... Gambling, maybe some "social" contacts, hotel occupancy and so on.

...

I really do not know if the change of nationality of the tourists entering Thailand is very important.

What is important is the marketing of Thailand AND the fulfilment of the promises made to tourists.

The problem might become the Asian tourists have different tastes and are less easy to please.

...

Well, maybe i'm wrong but who needs a venue like Disneyland if it's a lot of fun around? But anyway there are many leisure parks in Europe nbut without any megalomania. In case of Thailand this means many european tourists are going there to learn about the culture and the country and having some (sun)bathing. And dont forget about the "mia farang".

I guess the question is not the amount of money spent in a few expensive hotels but the raising of fair paid jobs for many people.

I don't think Asian tourisat are less easy to please! Just watch them on a trip "Europe in 10 days"...

THINK