Foreign Tourist Arrivals In Thailand Hit 15.7-15.8 Million This Year

[bangon04]

Here we have a perfect example of perception versus FACT - tourism is UP - 15 millionIf you look at the crowds in the right places you'll see them - the problem is they are not "westerners" - they are Asians and Eastern Europeans - they come in in charter flights - not even Suvarnabhumi and they are bussed to different places - so you won't see them.

Actually if you go to the far end of Swampy terminal (post office end) you will be able to see the russians queuing and arguing over their overweight baggage allowances. Quite educational really. The cleaning staff have put out extra litter bins, an they keep a close watch.

[Deeral]

<snip>

it's just the seedy side where the fat farangs hang out in dingy, dirty bars ain't doing so well - and it won't pick up for a few years if it does at all.

I defer to your superior knowledge of these areas.

As your comment is pretty much off topic, I note with wry interest that you had to make it at all -" methinks tho doth protest too much" - or words to that effect.

[JetsetBkk]

<snip>

it's just the seedy side where the fat farangs hang out in dingy, dirty bars ain't doing so well - and it won't pick up for a few years if it does at all.

I defer to your superior knowledge of these areas.

As your comment is pretty much off topic, I note with wry interest that you had to make it at all -" methinks tho doth protest too much" - or words to that effect.

It's called 'humour', mate.

I don't know why I bother sometimes.

Happy New Year.

[DrPlumb]

Love it :-)

<snip>

Thailand reminds me of Singapore 30 years ago.

<snip>

In 30 years time it'll be 60 years behind.

[SiamRose]

Western visitors are down certainly, but Chinese are way up. There are also more Indians and Malaysians.

The Chinese don't spend money on the same things as westerners, but they do spend. Have you seen the price of shark's fin, or a bird's nest? They're not cheap.

[softgeorge]

I came 14 times does that count as one visitor or 14.

[ginjag]

Western visitors are down certainly, but Chinese are way up. There are also more Indians and Malaysians.

The Chinese don't spend money on the same things as westerners, but they do spend. Have you seen the price of shark's fin, or a bird's nest? They're not cheap.

Western===holidaymakers are down, Asian holiday makers up, We all seem to agree on that. Its the figures pointing to numbers of Visiters thats way out. ...Take off the figures the re entries and business trips. They dont. Would love to know the the business/re.entry/cross border workers/ gamblers. would then give a true-ish, reading to the holiday arrivals. Just another stupid thought, they can't count the numbers of regulars that have fled, left for good. Hostility/low exchange ???

[LaoPo]

I came 14 times does that count as one visitor or 14.

14 !

That's the problem with the statistics by the "Foreign Tourist Arrivals" statistics of TAT.

Every single Malaysian, crossing the border for business (I believe they count more than 1,6 million of them, yearly) is counted as 1 tourist althoug he might travel to Thailand 24 times, up and down.

Samesame for tourists, arriving in Thailand and visiting neighboring countries or Expats, traveling up and down for visa; every entry is counted as 1 extra tourist.

IMO the real number of tourists arrivals are somewhere between 7-9 million.

Note: It's the same with Malaysia; they have around 22 million tourists* if I'm correct but it could be more; the point is that they do the same as Thailand and thousands of Singapore people visit Malaysia many times a year, to be counted as -again- a new tourist...yeah right...

edit:

* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism Malaysia is #9 on the world's list of highest number of inbound tourists....

LaoPo

Edited January 7, 2011 by LaoPo

[aznyron]

the way I see it is more B/S coming out of the agency responsible for reporting it talk to hotel & restaurant owners ask them how business is this year. I remember few years back you had to make reservations 1 or 2 months in advance to get a room now you can walk in any hotel and get 5 or even 10 rooms because they are half empty take a walk on walking street see how large the crowd is look inside the restaurants see how busy they are that tell you the truth not some one behind a desk dreaming up numbers to report. look at factories see how much O/T the employees are getting see how many got laid off this also is a sign of what is going on./ this is just my opinion but I suspect the BOT want to get the Thai Baht back to were it was before the crash of 97 at I think it was 25 to 1 not sure on that at the expense of small business & hotel & restaurants & also the girls who make there living off entertaining the men it like the BOT want there cut before any one else & they have the means to collect it

[Deeral]

I came 14 times does that count as one visitor or 14.

or 14 really unobservant visitors?

[spidermike007]

Well, here is my (ill-informed) take on all this.

It's probably true that tourist numbers have increased, but it's the wrong type of tourist. It's common knowledge that TAT has been targeting Asians to come and visit Thailand, but that does not necessarily lead to increased revenues in the tourism sector. Some Asian nationalities are well-known for haggling a hard bargain, and others, such as Chinese and Korean tourists, purchase fully-inclusive package holidays to Thailand, where even the tour guides are flown in from the home country. So it's hard for local Thai tourist businesses to increase their re venues from these visitor sectors.

Why is my hotel fully booked? Probably because I strive to avoid reliance on local Thai businesses to secure my hotel revenues. I think 98% of my guest bookings are made online by overseas booking agents, because I've learned from bitter experience not to use local Thai inbound operators, (with the exception of Sawadee, who provide an excellent service, and is owned by a French man). I found that local agents often failed to pay for bookings, canceled bookings at the last minute, or tried to obtain contract room-rates which would leave me with little profit. At least with the international booking agents, I know what % commission I need to pay.

Many Thai businesses fail miserably in the IT/online department! They fail to answer emails, their web site is either non-existent or has dead links, or is full of viruses and trojans. I do not have the time nor interest to deal with any company who displays such incompetence.

I've tried to meet the needs of the tourists who visit Phuket. So my hotel web site is available in Chinese, Korean, Russian (and 5 more languages coming online), plus instant online booking and payment via Paypal or Thaiepay. I'm currently installing facilities for Muslim customers (ie which direction is Mecca etc?)

Sometimes I think many Thai tourist businesses are still in the wrong century. Customers want to see the offer, book and pay for it - all online and within a few minutes. These businesses have a lot to learn about being proactive, marketing and customer service.

Simon

That is fascinating information. Yes, I too feel that Thailand is way behind the curve when it comes to the internet. My Thai friends have never even heard of online shopping, and do not even consider that an option. And I rarely get a response to an online inquiry or letter in Thailand. One exception was homepro. I wrote them a complaint on their website, and they not only responded, they resolved the problem quickly. Very impressive.

[Mugg]

Good Job Thailand...