Thailand Goes On The Road To Recovery

Thailand goes on the road to recovery

Tourist authorities in Thailand are already planning campaigns to encourage visitors to return but rivals such as South Africa expect to benefit in the short-term

Thailand's goverment, expected to lose more than £150 million a month because of the tsunami, is planning a “condolence campaign” to lure visitors back.

A road show starting in Sweden this month will urge potential holidaymakers not to abandon a country heavily dependent on tourism. But rival destinations such as South Africa believes it will benefit as tourists cancel holiday plans for South-East Asia.

Ian Hay, financial director of Tourvest, the largest South African tourism company listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange, said: “Southeast Asia is a serious competitor for South African tourists. We are quite sure there will be some kind of boost to South Africa. Unfortunately, one man’s meat is another man’s poison.”

British tour operators featuring the Caribbean say the islands are already benefiting, as holidaymakers given the opportunity to switch destinations choose to go to the West Indies. The Caribbean suffered badly from hurricanes which swept the region nine months ago. Bali is also only now regaining tourist confidence after spending nearly two years on the Foreign Office "don't go" list in the wake of the bombs that killed 203 people.

Hence the urgency among South-East Asian countries to encourage tourist to make a quick return. The six Andaman Sea coastal provinces hit by the waves will need urgent rehabilitation to stem losses, said Juthamas Siriwan, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

Juthamas, quoted by The Nation newspaper, said TAT executives would fly to several countries with high death tolls, starting with Sweden this month, to express condolences to the government and people.

Tourism Minister Sontaya Kunplome said resorts will be redesigned to better withstand any future disasters. He said Phi Phi island, whose buildings were near-obliterated, should in future become only a day-trip area. Beaches in the worst hit province of Phang Nga, which includes the newly developed and now devastated resort of Khao Lak, should not be excessively built up in future, he said.

In South Africa, Hay acknowledged that any benefits the country accrues would be temporary. “There’s a possible temporary advantage to be gained but the Asian countries will get their act together.

"If you look at the Asian currency crisis and (the respiratory illness) SARS, they bounced back very strongly from that. Once they have recovered, they will come back fighting strong. I think we will see some very, very attractively priced packages in about six month’s time.”

--timesonline.co.uk 2005-01-05