Tourists Unfazed By Political Protest

[george]

Tourists unfazed by political protest

BANGKOK: -- Thailand's ongoing political tension has not yet affected the country’s tourism since hotel occupations and airplane ticket reserves remain booked at a normal level, according to an industry executive.

Vijit na Ranong, President of the Tourism Industry Council of Thailand, said that he viewed the current political situation had dampened tourism climate in some sections of the city because it is a centre of rallies for a demand of political change.

However, the hotel occupations and airplane ticket reserves for various tourist destinations are still booked at a normal level.

There has been no known cancellation of flight or hotel room reservation by tourists.

Still, some government officials had definitely postponed plans to hold meetings, and cancelled or pushed back reservations for hotel and seminar rooms following the dissolution of the House Representatives on February 24, he said.

Mr. Vijit conceded hotel room reserves are likely to drop slightly if the political turmoil drags on since tourists might wait to see when the situation would ease.

Organisers of international conferences may hesitate to choose Thailand as a venue for meetings since they give a priority to the safety.

He said the local tourism would be definitely affected if the political situation escalated into violence and led to riots.

So, he wanted officials concerned to give tourists proper understanding of the current political development to ease their concern.

Anyhow, he said he was confident the country’s tourism this year would grow 10 per cent year on year as earlier targeted with money circulation exceeding 400 billion baht.

--TNA 2005-03-03