Travel Business In Thailand Faces A Dip After Japan Quake

[webfact]

Tourism faces a dip after quake

By SUCHAT SRITMA

THE NATION

The travel business in Thailand is likely to suffer a negative impact over the next three to six months as Japanese tourists defer plans to come here, while Thais are likely to travel to other countries for fear of being caught in another quake.

Anake Srishevachart, president of the Thai-Japan Tourism Business Association, said arrivals from Japan would experience a negative impact this year over three to six months from now, between April to December.

But he said there would not be much impact on arrivals in the short term as most of tourists who booked packages were from major cities like Tokyo and Osaka, far from Sendai, which was hit by the tsunami last Friday.

But he predicted that new bookings from Japan would slow until the end of this year especially from the affected prefectures, and the capital, Tokyo.

Japan was one of the top three markets for Thai tourism with over one million visitors a year before the political crisis. The number was expected to rise and exceed a million visitors this year after plunging following the red-shirt mayhem last year.

"Now, we may not see one million Japanese tourists this year as earlier projected," Anake said.

Outbound travel from Thailand was likely to suffer a bigger impact because Thais tourists would fear of another quake as well as problems related to nuclear power plants in Japan.

Tokyo Disneyland announced it would close temporarily for 10 days while many other concerts and entertainment events have been halted.

Tour operators in Thailand are already offering plans for travellers to visit other countries instead of Japan.

But Charoen Wangananond, head of the Thai Travel Agents Association, said the number of Thai tourists would grow this year despite problems in Japan. He said most Thais usually did not visit Sendai and the northeast of Japan so they were likely to keep going to their favorite places like Tokyo and Osaka.

Charoen said about 300,000 Thais would travel to Japan this year, a rise of 25 percent from last year. All airlines from Thailand to Japan have resumed operations after hours of delays after airports were closed in Japan.

-- The Nation 2011-03-14

[Tatsujin]

Not one word of sympathy in the article for their Asian neighbors, just straight into how this would affect Thailand's tourism . . . nice

Edited March 14, 2011 by Tatsujin

[anterian]

As plate activity in the "ring of fire" is on the increase, anyone who thinks the South Island might be safer is a fool. Oops I forgot, this is Thailand.

[Roota]

Not one word of sympathy in the article for their Asian neighbors

To be fair, it's a news story, not an editorial. There have been no lack of expressions of sympathy, and journalists (including me) are naturally now turning to reporting on the long-term impact of this event.

[dumpling]

Not one word of sympathy in the article for their Asian neighbors

To be fair, it's a news story, not an editorial. There have been no lack of expressions of sympathy, and journalists (including me) are naturally now turning to reporting on the long-term impact of this event.

I agree the timing of this article is much better than that of TAT and their press release.

Edited March 14, 2011 by dumpling

[robertson468]

As plate activity in the "ring of fire" is on the increase, anyone who thinks the South Island might be safer is a fool. Oops I forgot, this is Thailand.

I agree entirely with the previous and this Post. The Tourism Association Head needs to do both a crash course in diplomacy and geography, which one would have thought would go hand in glove with the job - shame on you Thailand and our prayers go to everyone affected by this horrendous disaster in Japan.

[Payboy]

But he predicted that new bookings from Japan would slow until the end of this year especially from the affected prefectures, and the capital, Tokyo.

Wow, this guy's good. He's better than Nostradamus.

[yaangcome]

You really should read more before making such comments. Thailand & its priminister expressed its sorrow for all in Japan.

Not one word of sympathy in the article for their Asian neighbors, just straight into how this would affect Thailand's tourism . . . nice

[Soutpeel]

Not one word of sympathy in the article for their Asian neighbors

To be fair, it's a news story, not an editorial. There have been no lack of expressions of sympathy, and journalists (including me) are naturally now turning to reporting on the long-term impact of this event.

That may be so....but dont you think its in bad taste at this current juncture considering what has gone on and what is going on ?

[DP25]

To be fair, it's a news story, not an editorial. There have been no lack of expressions of sympathy, and journalists (including me) are naturally now turning to reporting on the long-term impact of this event.

That may be so....but dont you think its in bad taste at this current juncture considering what has gone on and what is going on ?

Every single newspaper in the world is doing it. Every business section is filled with speculation about how this will affect things. This a major event that needs to be taken in to immediate account by people worldwide. The first thing that happened when news of this broke, oil dropped under $100 per barrel

[craigt3365]

One derogatory post and 2 replies have been deleted. Keep it civil. :jap:

[atsiii]

You really should read more before making such comments. Thailand & its priminister expressed its sorrow for all in Japan.

Not one word of sympathy in the article for their Asian neighbors, just straight into how this would affect Thailand's tourism . . . nice

Excuse me, but where in the above article does it say, "Thailand and its Prime Minister expressed its sorrow?" Was this expressed in hidden code? Or perhaps by offering 5M baht for aid--marginally enough to fix up two houses? I'm curious, does anyone know how much money Japan gave Thailand after the 2004 tsunami? It would be an interesting comparison, I think... as a percentage of GDP, of course.

[Markaew]

Not one word of sympathy in the article for their Asian neighbors

To be fair, it's a news story, not an editorial. There have been no lack of expressions of sympathy, and journalists (including me) are naturally now turning to reporting on the long-term impact of this event.

Since Thais are incapable of sympathy I understand your comment. For the rest of us, we could give sympathy to Japan hourly and it wouldn't be enough. Thousands of Japanese have died and making light of it is worse than pathetic.