Thailand's domestic tourism marred by political unrest

[webfact]

Domestic tourism marred by political unrest



BANGKOK: -- Kasikorn Research Center (KResearch) says Thailand's domestic tourism this year will not grow as expected due mainly to ongoing political turmoil which is likely to drag on to the second quarter of this year.

Based on the study, Kresearch said there will likely be 178 million domestic tourists this year, up 7.9 per cent, with income rising to 725 billion baht this year, up 8.2 per cent year-on-year.

It then projected that the industry could grow as much as 12.1 per cent, with 185 million domestic tourists compared to last year, if it is not threatened by political instability. The industry could draw as much as 784 billion baht in revenue, up 17 per cent year-on-year.

Varieties of campaigns enabling this year’s growth have been introduced to encourage Thai tourists to travel more on week-days and not show up at particular locations during the long holiday.

Special incentives have also been introduced to boost domestic tourism, including credit card installment deals for tour packages as well as various tourism events in order to divert Thai tourists to different locations.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/domestic-tourism-marred-political-unrest/


-- Thai PBS 2014-03-12

[Thai at Heart]

178 million domestic tourists

I'd like to see this nethodology

[chooka]

That beach looks nice, clean sands, crystal clear water, no rubbish and cluttered deck chairs. What country is it, I might take a holiday.

[PatOngo]

178 million domestic tourists

I'd like to see this methodology

Quite "Amazing" given the population is around 64 million..........I guess every Thai will travel approx.3 times or does that count the farmers coming to Bangkok X times to seek payment for their pledged rice?

[upena]

K-Research is in cahoots with TAT and posts numbers based purely on fiction. Impossible to know how many domestic trips are taken and also impossible to know how much revenue is generated.

[northernjohn]

Not surprising the Domestic tourism is down. The people who live here in Thailand are very aware of the violence the red shirts and the southern terrorists are capable of.

[Hobiecat]

It's been quite noticeable here in Hua Hin with very few BKK hi so's ripping up the highway's on the weekend's with thee Mercedes or BMW's. Traffic in town has been wonderful.

[fatdrunkandstupid]

Instead of credit card installment deals why not try to improve security against card skimming.

Or perhaps that might be counter productive...a good 10 percent or more on current tourists here in Thailand would appear to be here to skim cards.

[Commander Tamson]

178 million domestic tourists

I'd like to see this nethodology

The quoted figures worry me too. Kasikorn is a bank, right? It is not encouraging to learn that the poor standard of maths in this country extends to the banks

[Lupatria]

178 million domestic tourists

I'd like to see this nethodology

If you add all the numbers of protester from outside BKK stated by the organisers,travelling back and forth for rallies during the last 6 month, the domestic bus tourists will make up for half of the 178 millions.

Edited March 12, 2014 by Lupatria

[Commander Tamson]

178 million domestic tourists

I'd like to see this nethodology

If you add all the numbers of protester from outside BKK stated by the organisers,travelling back and forth for rallies during the last 6 month, the domestic bus tourists will make up for half of the 178 millions.

Yeah that makes the sort of sense that TAT or Kasikorn might use! Every time someone uses an intercity bus is regarded/counted as an act of domestic tourism.