Number of tourists from China to Thailand has dropped

[webfact]

Fewer Chinese Tourists Due To Tightened Tourism Law
By Khaosod Online

BANGKOK: -- Number of tourists from China to Thailand has dropped by 50-70% since the Chinese authorities enacted a crackdown on the extortive ′zero dollar tours′, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

Under the scheme of ′zero dollar tours′, tourists from China paid very little to tour operators for their trips to Thailand, but they would be later coerced into paying for unwanted services and products, while the tour organisers rake in the commissions.

The scheme has been criticised by many experts, and on 1 October the Chinese government finally enacted a legislation prohibiting the operation of ′zero dollar tours′.

Mr. Pongsatorn Ketsamlee, Deputy Director of the Asian and South Pacific section of TAT, said the law has led to a massive decrease of Chinese tourists traveling to Thailand.

However, Mr. Pongsatorn believes the law will eventually benefit Thailand’s tourism industry in the long term as it terminated some long-overdue problems, such as the scamming of Chinese tourists by business owners and tour operations.

“The law urges our organisation and travel agencies to reassess the real demand of Chinese tourists” said Mr. Pongsatorn, “We have communicated more to seek in-depth information about the tour business.”

He continued, “For example, in case of historical products, we must try to highlight the historic links between Thailand and China, because if Chinese tourists can learn more about the history of their ancestors, the tour will be more valuable”.

The new law also leads to the 30 – 50% fall in expected numbers of coming in tourists in this year′s fourth quarter, after tour reservation and airline reservation decreased. Moreover, the price for the tour had doubled from last year, from ฿20,000 – 25,000 to ฿40,000 – 65,000.

“The newly established law resulted in the cancellations of charter flight from various airlines”, said Mr. Pongsatorn, “however, we need to see whether the service could resume again in December and January which coincide with [international] New Year Day and Chinese New Year Day."

“On the positive side, this bill encouraged Chinese tourists to travel in the closer destinations in Asia rather than going to Europe” added Mr. Pongsatorn.

The deputy director also expressed his delight that over 3.23 million Chinese tourist have visited Thailand in the fourth quarter, exceeding the expectation of 17% increase projected by the TAT.

Source: http://www.khaosod.co.th/en/view_newsonline.php?newsid=TVRNNE16a3hPRFEzTlE9PQ==

-- KHAOSOD English 2013-11-09

[Thai at Heart]

because if Chinese tourists can learn more about the history of their ancestors, the tour will be more valuable.

Huh?, the Chinese will come to Thailand to learn of their ancestry? As for the figures on these high quality high value tourists. Lol

[NongKhaiKid]

The Deputy Director is quite right, the Chinese authorities need to get their scamming problems sorted out and allow massive amounts of tourists to come here and be scammed.

[JoeThePoster]

in case of historical products

I knew it! That OTOP umbrella fan I bought in the night market the other day was made by the direct descendant of a Chinese infant slave who produced one of the worlds first Mickey Mouse stuffed toys.

[JRSoul]

They've been here, done that, got the T-shirt, copied it, and now selling in the markets for half price. Who needs to go to Thailand when you can get one just down the road?

[doremifasol]

I mean..........are these people for real???

[zydeco]

I'm confused. At one point the article states that there is a 30-50 percent decline in fourth quarter tourism from China. Then, the last sentence states there is a 17 percent increase according to TAT. How does 50 percent fewer translate into a 17 percent increase?

[CHRISTIANa9]

I'm confused.  At one point the article states that there is a 30-50 percent decline in fourth quarter tourism from China.  Then, the last sentence states there is a 17 percent increase according to TAT.  How does 50 percent fewer translate into a 17 percent increase?

Meaning zero tour tourist drop 30-50% but more coming thru as normal tourist?

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

[Sydebolle]

Are these those quality tourists the TAT are talking about?
Are these those quality tourists having replaced the better-paying, albeit more demanding, westerners?
Pathetic!

[Felt 35]

Good

[jalansanitwong]

I 'm finding it more and more difficult to digest these articles about Thai tourism.

They don't make any sense. Tourism up.... tourism down.. up down ! flyyyyyyying around looping the loop and defying the ................?

Chinese aren't quality tourists because they're not spending any money here.?.....wow ! what a revelation.

This country is full of rubbish tourists from backwaters of Russia and China being cartered around in buses and ferries driven by drug addicts and drunks.

THEY GOT WHAT THEY PAID FOR...............CHEAP HOLIDAY IN THAILAND = SCAMS = DANGER

[noitom]

The Deputy Director is quite right, the Chinese authorities need to get their scamming problems sorted out and allow massive amounts of tourists to come here and be scammed.

The kickback/payback/skim action has hit a snag as to who gets what.

[ChrisY1]

"BANGKOK: -- Number of tourists from China to Thailand has dropped by 50-70% since the Chinese authorities enacted a crackdown on the extortive ′zero dollar tours′, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)."

Then we get this:

"The deputy director also expressed his delight that over 3.23 million Chinese tourist have visited Thailand in the fourth quarter, exceeding the expectation of 17% increase projected by the TAT."

Great reporting.....!!!

[casindonet]

I'm confused. At one point the article states that there is a 30-50 percent decline in fourth quarter tourism from China. Then, the last sentence states there is a 17 percent increase according to TAT. How does 50 percent fewer translate into a 17 percent increase?

TAT Math....not same-same farang algebra.

[zakk9]

Don't complain. There have been "experts" involved. Must be true then

"The scheme has been criticised by many experts, ..."

[AryanicAristocrat]

Huh! And to think that I always assumed that The "Missing Links" were from here!

[laurentbkk]

I'm confused. At one point the article states that there is a 30-50 percent decline in fourth quarter tourism from China. Then, the last sentence states there is a 17 percent increase according to TAT. How does 50 percent fewer translate into a 17 percent increase?

its normal for TAT to mix up figures

[BudRight]

It's not math - it's Thai math.

[coma]

However, Mr. Pongsatorn believes the law will eventually benefit Thailand’s tourism industry in the long term as it terminated some long-overdue problems, such as the scamming of Chinese tourists by business owners and tour operations.

And how does Mr Pongsatorn plan on achieving this ? Tourists from all over the world have been coming to Thailand for a well long time and they still haven't been protected from scams. Is he saying that only chinese tourists will be protected from Thai scams ?

[EyesWideOpen]

Thank god !!!! I was getting tired of these endless tour busses full of Chinese tourists, gaping out the windows

looking at regular people walking around in Pattaya....... But I have to say, the little tour groups on Walking Street

following the guy with a red flag, are pretty funny to watch..

[Prbkk]

Airline capacity is a pretty good indicator. There has been no increase in China-Thailand flights in recent times. In fact Air China just announced they will use a 737 rather than the much larger 777 on one of their Beijing-bangkok flights. The only addition is a planned Ningbo-bangkok by China Eastern....at some point in the future.

[topt]

Airline capacity is a pretty good indicator. There has been no increase in China-Thailand flights in recent times. In fact Air China just announced they will use a 737 rather than the much larger 777 on one of their Beijing-bangkok flights. The only addition is a planned Ningbo-bangkok by China Eastern....at some point in the future.

I think it was only this year that China Southern added a later flight to their shedule from Guangzhou to BKK - now have 5 flights a day before only 4.

[chooka]

I'm confused. At one point the article states that there is a 30-50 percent decline in fourth quarter tourism from China. Then, the last sentence states there is a 17 percent increase according to TAT. How does 50 percent fewer translate into a 17 percent increase?

oh god man. You never studied maths and economics in Thailand did you?

[Tomtomtom69]

Airline capacity is a pretty good indicator. There has been no increase in China-Thailand flights in recent times. In fact Air China just announced they will use a 737 rather than the much larger 777 on one of their Beijing-bangkok flights. The only addition is a planned Ningbo-bangkok by China Eastern....at some point in the future.

I think it was only this year that China Southern added a later flight to their shedule from Guangzhou to BKK - now have 5 flights a day before only 4.

Some flight adjustments, either increases or decreases will always occur in any market, to reflect demand. There are numerous Chinese cities with flights to Thailand, mainly Bangkok, but also increasingly Phuket and Chiang Mai. Chiang Rai even fields flights to Kunming.

Guangzhou is mainly a business city, with one of the highest GDPs in the country. You could also say it's a minor tourist destination for foreign visitors, or at least acts as a base for excursions into the rest of the province. China Southern is one of the biggest promoters of the 72-hour visa-free stay for foreign transit visitors if flying via Guangzhou. Given the lack of flights from Thailand to North America (currently there is not even 1 non-stop flight and very, very few direct flights), a stopover in a city like Guangzhou for passengers heading onto Los Angeles, San Francisco, Vancouver etc. makes sense for passengers originating in Bangkok. Of course lots of traditional business and tourist traffic going in either direction (as well as some North Americans and other transit passengers heading to Bangkok via Guangzhou) also helps to explain the healthy performance of this route.

Zero Yuan tours or whatever they call them in China feature lots of tour groups from no-name second and third tier cities that few foreigners have ever even heard of, such as Changsha, Changchun, Zhengzhou, Shijiazhuang and others. Flights from these cities may be affected, but in any case there is very little to no demand from regular folks, either citizens of Thailand or China, or third party foreigners to fly between Bangkok and these cities unless they are on such a tour.

Some years ago THAI used to fly to Kunming daily, with 2 flights stopping off in Chiang Mai in either direction. About 4 or so years ago, the Chiang Mai flights ended and the Bangkok service was reduced to 5 weekly until late last year, when daily flights were reinstated (however, there is no indication that Chiang Mai flights will resume). As a regular on this flight, I have noticed that during Chinese holiday periods, flights are usually quite full, outside of these periods they can even be rather empty. Sometimes Malaysian or Singaporean tour groups, Thai tour groups or even large numbers of third party foreigners (such as Sri Lankans, even westerners) make up a significant proportion of passengers on these flights rather than Chinese. As mentioned, sometimes flights can be rather empty as well (THAI operates an A330-300 on the route). It is therefore very possible that flight frequency may be reduced again during off-peak periods, but for now daily flights will continue.

Flight frequency to Chengdu has also increased to daily more recently, but again, the same situation could arise as with Kunming. Both cities have been served by THAI for many years. Newcomers include Chongqing and Changsha served by THAI Smile. I have noticed an increase of flights to Changsha in the flight schedule for a brief period early next year, followed by a drop-off later on (from 3 to 4 or 5 flights and then back down to 3 a week).

Edited November 9, 2013 by Tomtomtom69

[Time Traveller]

"3.23 million Chinese tourist have visited Thailand in the fourth quarter " -

That is surprising. If the 22 million tourist arrivals per year is close to correct then Chinese tourists now represent over 50% of the tourist market.

[winstonc]

 

Huh! And to think that I always assumed that The "Missing Links" were from here!

 missing links like it i understood that one well done ...

[Greenhill]

I'm confused. At one point the article states that there is a 30-50 percent decline in fourth quarter tourism from China. Then, the last sentence states there is a 17 percent increase according to TAT. How does 50 percent fewer translate into a 17 percent increase?

Meaning zero tour tourist drop 30-50% but more coming thru as normal tourist?

Sent from my iPad using ThaiVisa app

Thai accounting???

[kingalfred]

I have a small group of Chinese friends who visit Thailand every year and I act as their guide.They speak no Thai and very little English.so I get them around with my English and "nit noi"Thai,steering them away from scams , overpricing ,Even their hotel has been know to try and arrange tours,tickets etc with a huge mark up.Of course the Thais who are "missing out" on rich pickings hate me doing this and I dont give a ***** . they bring it on themselves.The Chinese government know what goes on and so does the Thai government who as per normal do nothing.

Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[SjaakNL2013]

I'm confused. At one point the article states that there is a 30-50 percent decline in fourth quarter tourism from China. Then, the last sentence states there is a 17 percent increase according to TAT. How does 50 percent fewer translate into a 17 percent increase?

Zydeco, I assume you are a foreigner. As foreigner yo will never ever understand Thai calculations.

They are not based on any mathematical rule and always adjusted in favor of the person/group who announce the calculations.

Example:

In Western calculations 2 + 2 = 4

In Thai calculations 2 + 2 = 1 or 2 or 3 or 5 or 6 or even 7. But one thing is sure it will not be 4.

[GentlemanJim]

We were staying at a resort for the weekend that we like and there was a party of tourists from China there. At dinner on the Friday it was like a plague of locust had gone through the dining room. There was a buffet on and the Chinese hit it like the next day was the end of the world. A large silver platter of a poached salmon, all decorated was picked up by one guy and taken to his table of 16. At the same table someone had picked up the entire steel container of barbecued food/kebabs/chicken etc and took it to their table. Whole trays of salads, containers of rice etc all gone. The Thai chefs stood there in disbelief but did nothing. We had to leave and go for a pizza, there was so much food taken it would take the kitchen 30-40 mins to get replacements on the table. The following morning at breakfast the same thing happened. It was so bad that the European manager of the resort offered me and my family a free weekend stay at a time of our choosing. He confided in me that he would never have another Chinese tour party in his resort again! So all in all the winners in this statistic are Thailand.

Edited November 9, 2013 by GentlemanJim