Thailand's Glum Tourism Forecast

[bingobongo]

maybe they can find a unicorn that craps rainbows to revive tourism?

The Bank of Thailand has projected that tourist arrivals will fall almost 9 per cent this year to 12.8m, their lowest since the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami owing to the country's political standoff and the global economic downturn, writes Tim Johnston in Bangkok .

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/fd1d2f62-ddf0-11...?nclick_check=1

[Naam]

The Bank of Thailand has projected that tourist arrivals will fall almost 9 per cent this year to 12.8m

that means still too much riffraff entering the country

[quiksilva]

A 9% drop is actually better than I expected.

[neil324]

The problem with projections is that they always air on the optimistic side and 9% given the year ahead for the world would seem like the person was smoking something before arriving at that fiqure.

[Deadcert]

I think that is a tad optimistic, I think the fall will be much more dramatic, especially if the Baht stays at present levels.

[think_too_mut]

A 9% drop is actually better than I expected.

Me too. They could be leaning on people like me who come 6 times a year (not any more) but many of those would continue coming. Their multiple arrivals count.

9% drop of unique arrivals rings hollow. Just loss of conference tourism would amount to more than 9%.

No corporate would even consider Thailand as a venue. Thai own government is struggling to make APEC happen somewhere within the country.

My guess is 25-30% loss of tourists.

Edit: providing any corporate is thinking of any hotel based conference or seminars, let alone extravaganzas.

Edited January 9, 2009 by think_too_mut

[Naam]

No corporate would even consider Thailand as a venue.

you are not informed TTM. in fact since many years quite a lot of corporate venues in BKK. but one doesn't advertise it

[Naam]

A 9% drop is actually better than I expected.

Me too. They could be leaning on people like me who come 6 times a year (not any more) but many of those would continue coming. Their multiple arrivals count.

know a bunch who come twice a year and just talked to some of them. the consensus is that nowhere in the world you get a better bang for the buck than in Thailand.

[think_too_mut]

No corporate would even consider Thailand as a venue.

you are not informed TTM. in fact since many years quite a lot of corporate venues in BKK. but one doesn't advertise it

Yeah?

My company was doing 300-500 people twice a year in BKK (once in Phuket) for 10 years.

No longer.

Harshly reduced conferences - one that will happen will be ...too identifynig, I would not say where but not in Thailand.

Those corporate venues in BKK will (as they are now) yawn idle.

[Naam]

No corporate would even consider Thailand as a venue.

you are not informed TTM. in fact since many years quite a lot of corporate venues in BKK. but one doesn't advertise it

My company was doing 300-500 people twice a year in BKK (once in Phuket) for 10 years.

No longer.

it's because the wives protested

reminds me of an old joke. i am a member of a group consisting of bankers, traders, fund managers and private investors. we meet at least twice a year. once in South America or the Caribic and traditionally since 1999 during Loy Krathong in Pattaya.

years ago one of the members told a friend "i am going for a week to Pattaya, Thailand"

friend: "YOU DIRTY PIG!"

Pattaya lover: "no, not what you think! i am going with my wife"

friend: "YOU STUPID PIG!"

[pkrv]

No corporate would even consider Thailand as a venue.

you are not informed TTM. in fact since many years quite a lot of corporate venues in BKK. but one doesn't advertise it

My company was doing 300-500 people twice a year in BKK (once in Phuket) for 10 years.

No longer.

it's because the wives protested

reminds me of an old joke. i am a member of a group consisting of bankers, traders, fund managers and private investors. we meet at least twice a year. once in South America or the Caribic and traditionally since 1999 during Loy Krathong in Pattaya.

years ago one of the members told a friend "i am going for a week to Pattaya, Thailand"

friend: "YOU DIRTY PIG!"

Pattaya lover: "no, not what you think! i am going with my wife"

friend: "YOU STUPID PIG!"

Life is not always what it seems. I have seen that - you are an anglophile aren't you naam? Your command of languages, including my native language (the USA seem to have failed their spelling test ];-) exceeds my own. Keep up the good work