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TOURISM
New plan urged, to cash in on Bt2-tn investment
Bamrung Amnatcharoenrit
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Tourism Council of Thailand proposes to assist the government design a tourism development plan along the Bt2 trillion infrastructure investment.

Piyaman Tejapaibul, the council’s president, said that as some projects will benefit many provinces, the council through the nationwide network is ready to supply information necessary for the development plan. She said that this would ensure the results most preferred by the local residents and business operators and this is crucial if the government wants to grow the tourism revenue from the 2014 target of Bt2.2 trillion.

She said that the development plan is necessary as Thailand’s tourism is concentrated in major cities like Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket and Chiang Mai. However, more secondary provinces will be connected by high-speed trains while ports will be developed in the South which could support cruise tourism.

"The private sector supports the Bt2 trillion investment. 41 per cent of tourism business operators surveyed in the third quarter viewed that Thailand’s transport network is in the poor and very poor condition. Meanwhile, we have the master tourism development plan, but many details are missing. The government should use this opportunity to grow the industry and lift tourism income," she said.

The council yesterday released its confidence-index report on the third quarter, carried out in August by Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Economics among 600 tourism operators nationwide.

Its survey resulted in an index of 101 points for the period, the highest confidence level for the third quarter in the past three years, thanks to stable politics and a rising flow of tourists from countries such as China and Russia.

The report said the future confidence index was as high as 107 for the final quarter. Some 41 per cent of respondents attributed this to the coming high season, followed by cheaper travel costs (34 per cent), and economic expansion's effect on tourism (33 per cent).

However, they expressed concern over the country's "ineffective" tourism policy, and also said not enough was being done to promote tourism destinations.

Some 40 per cent of respondents said the planned high-speed rail project would give the biggest boost to the tourism sector, while 31 per cent said the project would not benefit their businesses.

For this year, the council is confident that the projected 26.27 million foreign arrivals for the whole year can be achieved. If the full-year target is reached, it will mean an increase of 17.86 per cent over the number of visitors to the Kingdom last year, when 22.29 million foreign tourists arrived.

There were 6.83 million and 5.92 million foreign visitors during the first two quarters of 2013, respectively, with 6.36 million and 7.16 million arrivals expected in the current and final quarters.

Piyaman said there was clear evidence of many positive factors underscoring the sector's optimism, especially the long holidays in the final quarter, and also the planned tax cut on luxury products.

While politics is still a major risk, the domestic situation for the moment remains acceptable, she said, adding that if the political climate continued to be free of violent demonstrations, the industry would achieve its projected number of foreign arrivals.

Meanwhile, the widespread flooding in many provinces has had a minimal impact on domestic tourism due to the low season, while external factors such as the financial problems faced in Europe and the US are on the recovery path, she said.

Tighter legislation introduced by Beijing and affecting Chinese travellers will take effect on October 1, a move that the TCT projects will have a short-term impact on the flow of Chinese visitors to the Kingdom.

The legislation is aimed at protecting tourists and curbing those Chinese travel agencies using low-price tour packages and unfair services, which can create problems for Chinese travelling overseas.

However, Article 35 of the new law poses potential problems, as its interpretation is unclear in that it implies that Chinese tourists can claim for unsatisfactory products and services they receive while overseas.

This has created doubts among Chinese tour agents in doing business with foreign travel businesses, along with the penalty that may be handed down if they break the law.

Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, said China was a key market for Thai tourism, but the number of Chinese visitors to the Kingdom via tour agencies is expected to fall by 200,000 over the next three months - before the trend starts to return to normal.

The TCT projected that 4 million Chinese tourists would visit Thailand this year. During the first eight months, some 3.2 million had travelled here, spending Bt130 billion over the period.

In general, Chinese stay in Thailand for 6.5 days and spend an average of Bt4,500 per day, with 29 per cent of their budget spent on shopping and 32 per cent on accommodation.

Their average spending would increase to Bt5,500 if the tax-cut initiative on luxury goods came into effect.

However, the TCT has called for the tax cut of 30 per cent on products such as cosmetics and perfumes to only be given to foreign tourists, in order to protect local products on department-store shelves.


-- The Nation 2013-09-26

[Mosha]

TOURISM
New plan urged, to cash in on Bt2-tn investment

Or how do we get our cut?

[ChrisY1]

"we have the master tourism development plan, but many details are missing."

Sound familiar.....seems that this is the state of most major plans here.....many details are missing and usually this is how these so called "plans" remain...!

[Tatsujin]

The 30% "management fee" of the 2 trillion is a nice chunk of change to split up amongst everyone involved.

[bigbamboo]

High speed trains to the provinces, new ports for cruise business...... in your dreams, guys!

[osiboy]

The Thai Govt just don't seem to get it ,....it's about unspoilt beaches, clean waters, safe environments , security , pristine sands , clean paths , fresh air , quality service , hygienic fresh food , empty beaches sometimes , usable toilets , quality service , happy faces , getting away from it all ,polite people , affordable drink and food ,safe roads and good clean restaurants .....................isn't it ???...........; NOT ABOUT, expensive designer shopping malls , scams on the beach, dirty cops, corruption , beggars , poor health , sex in your face , scammers , cheats n'rip offs.........maybe ?

[lostmebike]

High speed trains to the provinces, new ports for cruise business...... in your dreams, guys!

That's right, keep on dreaming. Can you imagine the fighting and bickering between Somchai and Somying to get their slice of the pie? After all the usual crooks at the top take off this and take off that then set up bogus companies and hand contracts to their great-great grandfathers, they then hand on 'a budget' to the local experts who start the creaming process again. Years and years later when nothing has been finished, we would have untold finger pointing and blaming that would just go round in circles until it disappears. Can't wait to see some more 'proposals/plans' on this subject.

Edited September 26, 2013 by lostmebike

[soi41]

"a rising flow of tourists from countries such as China and Russia"

For starters in this big plan: Build toilets on the tarmac at Subvarnabhum, so Igor and Leonid don't have to wet their pants!

[hellodolly]

Did I miss some thing here. I do not believe the loan has yet to receive the government approval. Of course we all know if Thaksin talks PTP do. But here we are with nothing and the various departments are already fighting over who gets the money. No mention of a decent rail system for all of Thailand. That would be sensible infrastructure.

[rfukata]

this will never happen. just look especially at the public tourist transportation for Phuket and other popular local destinations?

clean and fix all of this non-sense first and then speak up.

[thhMan]

Before shelling out any money, Thailand should just clean its current infrastructure up first.

A clean beach would be nice

Policing these idiot scammers would go a long way to getting quality tourists back

Clean and repair hotels would help a tourist enjoy their holiday. Many I have walked into, smell like a WET POTATO

Let tourists enjoy their holiday and as word of mouth in western areas have killed off the quality tourists, then perhaps word of mouth about how good Thailand is becoming, might bring them back.

4 Indians sharing a coke, doesnt help tourism. A family buying gifts, enjoying dinner, going on tours and seeing parks etc does...

[lee b]

alot of tourists coming here spend nothing at all. I dont really understand why they bother coming !