Special Report: TAT expects tourism to bounce back soon

BANGKOK: -- The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) believes that Thailand’s tourism industry will rapidly bounce back after having been affected by political crisis.

Speaking at the Thailand Travel Mart Plus 2014, at the IMPACT Muang Thong Thani, TAT Governor Thawatchai Arunyik said that while there has been a decline in tourist arrivals from a number of short-haul markets, many others are still doing well.

For example, from January to April 2014, arrivals from European countries rose by 7.63 percent to 2.76 million. In April, arrivals from the Middle East, Oceania, Europe, and North America also saw an increase.

He noted that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) had moved quickly to relax a nationwide curfew. The curfew was lifted entirely in the key tourist destinations – Phuket, Samui, and Pattaya. All tourist businesses and services especially nighttime entertainment venues in the three destinations have resumed their normal services.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports has announced plans to propose that the NCPO lift the curfew in eight more tourist destinations, namely Krabi, Phang Nga, Trang, Hat Yai, Ko Chang, Cha-am, Hua Hin and Chiang Mai.

Mr. Thawatchai said that the Thailand Travel Mart Plus had attracted a total of 314 buyers and 97 foreign media agencies, adding that Thailand sees the presence of buyers as a strong indicator of their confidence that Thailand will ride this through, as it always has.

He said that the people in Thailand could enjoy their daily life as normal. Eating out, shopping, travelling, business meetings, even holding an important event like the Thailand Travel Mart Plus was running normally. The Thailand Travel Mart Plus is one of the country’s most important annual travel trade shows.

TAT is projecting international visitor arrivals in 2014 at 25.6 million, a slight drop from 2013. However, visitor expenditure is expected to surge 2.18 percent to 1.23 trillion baht or 38.4 billion US dollars.

It has appealed to the global media to show that life is going on as normal and that visitors can have a perfectly good holiday in Thailand.


-- NNT 2014-06-06

A new batch of happy pills have arrived at TAT, all is well with the tourist world of Thailand. We might get the previously unreachable target yet.

What a load of bs. You think people booking holidays now for later this year will come to thailand?

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I'd comment more but I need to rush outside and view this herd of flying pigs going past ...

Travel agents in New Zealand are now actively warning customers not to come to Thailand. That won't change until something changes here.

See "Dead Cat Bounce", and no, it is not a funny YouTube video.

Without fail TAT has done it again.....

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What a load of bs. You think people booking holidays now for later this year will come to thailand?

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I disagree.

I understand your thinking, with all the scams some of the locals subject tourists too. But despite the scam stories in the press, visitors gush about how lovely and gentle the good Thai folk are.

Yeah, there are many decent Thais about, they just aren't in the tourist areas

OK, flame away, 555

TAT is right, it will bounce back and all the naysayers on TV wont change that.

What a load of bs. You think people booking holidays now for later this year will come to thailand?

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I disagree.

I understand your thinking, with all the scams some of the locals subject tourists too. But despite the scam stories in the press, visitors gush about how lovely and gentle the good Thai folk are.

Yeah, there are many decent Thais about, they just aren't in the tourist areas

OK, flame away, 555

What do scams have to do with what is going on now?

Id bet money this high season is very quiet.

Nobody knows what will happen in 2 days 2 weeks or 2 months. So of course people will go else where

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TAT is right, it will bounce back and all the naysayers on TV wont change that.

It will bounce back, but its a sliding scale of bounce and back.

It always bounces back - despite what the barstool experts of TV say

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I'd comment more but I need to rush outside and view this herd of flying pigs going past ...

Travel agents in New Zealand are now actively warning customers not to come to Thailand. That won't change until something changes here.

Strange that as we have just been to two of the largest Kiwi agencies and never had any such warnings. Our yearly flights again booked. And on Kiwi travel message boards I have read advice from frequent Kiwis travel travelers to Thailand to fellow Kiwis is under Army rule the place has never been safer. Which I concur with talking to family in both Bangkok and Udon.

Apart from travel insurance issues, many tour operators in the civilized world refuse to organize package tours to countries with a military regime. Myanmar has therefore been banned for years. Bringing tourists to a place where Human Rights have been pushed away.......this TAT is a Happy Club with only positivism and Happiness. Reality does not pop up in their vocabulary.

Apart from travel insurance issues, many tour operators in the civilized world refuse to organize package tours to countries with a military regime. Myanmar has therefore been banned for years. Bringing tourists to a place where Human Rights have been pushed away.......this TAT is a Happy Club with only positivism and Happiness. Reality does not pop up in their vocabulary.

In the where, in the civilized world, where's that then!

And whilst it was fashionable and trendy for some "responsible " travel agents to refuse to organize tours to places such as Myanmar (how patriotic and noble that gesture is), others cleaned up and sent groups their by the thousand, case in point the Hong Kong agencies completely ignored the issue during all of the 1990's and 2000's .

And actually it's not TAT that has reality issues it's posters in this thread and the like. Look what happened to tourism after every coup in the past twenty years, it increased to new record highs and the same thing will happen after this one..

Edited June 6, 201412 yr by chiang mai

I've always been impressed by the detail of TAT's predictions so in that vein I will say that Thai tourism will bounce back on the 27th of June.... at 4.35pm.

Edited June 6, 201412 yr by bigbamboo

Apart from travel insurance issues, many tour operators in the civilized world refuse to organize package tours to countries with a military regime. Myanmar has therefore been banned for years. Bringing tourists to a place where Human Rights have been pushed away.......this TAT is a Happy Club with only positivism and Happiness. Reality does not pop up in their vocabulary.

In the where, in the civilized world, where's that then!

And whilst it was fashionable and trendy for some "responsible " travel agents to refuse to organize tours to places such as Myanmar (how patriotic and noble that gesture is), others cleaned up and sent groups their by the thousand, case in point the Hong Kong agencies completely ignored the issue during all of the 1990's and 2000's .

And actually it's not TAT that has reality issues it's posters in this thread and the like. Look what happened to tourism after every coup in the past twenty years, it increased to new record highs and the same thing will happen after this one..

Tourism increased to record heights thanks to Thaksin's Suvarnabhumi. Not military coups. If Thaksin comes back we really have tourism perspectives. Not with Flower Power Parties in army colors.

Apart from travel insurance issues, many tour operators in the civilized world refuse to organize package tours to countries with a military regime. Myanmar has therefore been banned for years. Bringing tourists to a place where Human Rights have been pushed away.......this TAT is a Happy Club with only positivism and Happiness. Reality does not pop up in their vocabulary.

In the where, in the civilized world, where's that then!

And whilst it was fashionable and trendy for some "responsible " travel agents to refuse to organize tours to places such as Myanmar (how patriotic and noble that gesture is), others cleaned up and sent groups their by the thousand, case in point the Hong Kong agencies completely ignored the issue during all of the 1990's and 2000's .

And actually it's not TAT that has reality issues it's posters in this thread and the like. Look what happened to tourism after every coup in the past twenty years, it increased to new record highs and the same thing will happen after this one..

Tourism increased to record heights thanks to Thaksin's Suvarnabhumi. Not military coups. If Thaksin comes back we really have tourism perspectives. Not with Flower Power Parties in army colors.

You miss the point, the reality is that tourism increases after every coup, not as a function of there having been a coup and not as a function of any one person nor as a result of the new airport, it increases because that is the trend over time, for posters to suggest that wont be the case of that TAT is being naive is very blinkered.

Annual statistics

2013 26,735,583 +19.60% ^[20]

2012 22,303,065 +15.98 % ^[21]

2011 19,230,470 +20.67 % ^[22]

2010 15,936,400 +12.63 % ^[23]

2009 14,149,841 -2.98 % ^[24]

2008 14,584,220 +0.83 % ^{[citation needed]}

2007 14,464,228 +4.65 % ^[25]

2006 13,821,802 +20.01 % ^{[citation needed]}

2005 11,516,936 -1.15% ^{[citation needed]}

2004 11,650,703 no data ^{[citation needed]}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Thailand

Edited June 6, 201412 yr by chiang mai

What's the position of travel insurance companies on this?

I saw'em bouncing back with my own eyes, more then ever before -
at the border whilst trying to enter Thailand.

Special Report: TAT expects tourism to bounce back soon

oh sure, it'll bounce, just like some cheques I once got...

Not until the Army does PR with international news media on the clean-up of corruption and mafia activity that targets tourists.

Edited June 6, 201412 yr by razer

Apart from travel insurance issues, many tour operators in the civilized world refuse to organize package tours to countries with a military regime. Myanmar has therefore been banned for years. Bringing tourists to a place where Human Rights have been pushed away.......this TAT is a Happy Club with only positivism and Happiness. Reality does not pop up in their vocabulary.

In the where, in the civilized world, where's that then!

And whilst it was fashionable and trendy for some "responsible " travel agents to refuse to organize tours to places such as Myanmar (how patriotic and noble that gesture is), others cleaned up and sent groups their by the thousand, case in point the Hong Kong agencies completely ignored the issue during all of the 1990's and 2000's .

And actually it's not TAT that has reality issues it's posters in this thread and the like. Look what happened to tourism after every coup in the past twenty years, it increased to new record highs and the same thing will happen after this one..

Tourism increased to record heights thanks to Thaksin's Suvarnabhumi. Not military coups. If Thaksin comes back we really have tourism perspectives. Not with Flower Power Parties in army colors.

You miss the point, the reality is that tourism increases after every coup, not as a function of there having been a coup and not as a function of any one person nor as a result of the new airport, it increases because that is the trend over time, for posters to suggest that wont be the case of that TAT is being naive is very blinkered.

Annual statistics

2013 26,735,583 +19.60% ^[20]

2012 22,303,065 +15.98 % ^[21]

2011 19,230,470 +20.67 % ^[22]

2010 15,936,400 +12.63 % ^[23]

2009 14,149,841 -2.98 % ^[24]

2008 14,584,220 +0.83 % ^{[citation needed]}

2007 14,464,228 +4.65 % ^[25]

2006 13,821,802 +20.01 % ^{[citation needed]}

2005 11,516,936 -1.15% ^{[citation needed]}

2004 11,650,703 no data ^{[citation needed]}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Thailand

There are lies, damned lies and statistics.

Mark Twain

I take statistics with a grain of salt. I watch my intake of the same with caution.

After attending a few happiness concerts...we believe.

Delusional and dysfunctional must truly be major KPI's in order to obtain and keep a job at TAT.

Apart from travel insurance issues, many tour operators in the civilized world refuse to organize package tours to countries with a military regime. Myanmar has therefore been banned for years. Bringing tourists to a place where Human Rights have been pushed away.......this TAT is a Happy Club with only positivism and Happiness. Reality does not pop up in their vocabulary.

In the where, in the civilized world, where's that then!

And whilst it was fashionable and trendy for some "responsible " travel agents to refuse to organize tours to places such as Myanmar (how patriotic and noble that gesture is), others cleaned up and sent groups their by the thousand, case in point the Hong Kong agencies completely ignored the issue during all of the 1990's and 2000's .

And actually it's not TAT that has reality issues it's posters in this thread and the like. Look what happened to tourism after every coup in the past twenty years, it increased to new record highs and the same thing will happen after this one..

Tourism increased to record heights thanks to Thaksin's Suvarnabhumi. Not military coups. If Thaksin comes back we really have tourism perspectives. Not with Flower Power Parties in army colors.

" If Thaksin comes back...."

This will probably be his transport through customs. Flowers will be provided by grateful citizens welcoming home their native son.

Apart from travel insurance issues, many tour operators in the civilized world refuse to organize package tours to countries with a military regime. Myanmar has therefore been banned for years. Bringing tourists to a place where Human Rights have been pushed away.......this TAT is a Happy Club with only positivism and Happiness. Reality does not pop up in their vocabulary.

In the where, in the civilized world, where's that then!

And whilst it was fashionable and trendy for some "responsible " travel agents to refuse to organize tours to places such as Myanmar (how patriotic and noble that gesture is), others cleaned up and sent groups their by the thousand, case in point the Hong Kong agencies completely ignored the issue during all of the 1990's and 2000's .

And actually it's not TAT that has reality issues it's posters in this thread and the like. Look what happened to tourism after every coup in the past twenty years, it increased to new record highs and the same thing will happen after this one..

Tourism increased to record heights thanks to Thaksin's Suvarnabhumi. Not military coups. If Thaksin comes back we really have tourism perspectives. Not with Flower Power Parties in army colors.

" If Thaksin comes back...."

This will probably be his transport through customs. Flowers will be provided by grateful citizens welcoming home their native son.

Tourism will bounce back, but it won't return to previous levels. The world economy is slowing down considerably, and that will impact future tourist numbers for the next two or three years.

It's expensive to get to Thailand from most "Farang Countries," and I think people will be spooked to come here during an active military-coup for fear of having a bad vacation. Just my opinion.

The TAT figures have no credibility. And the quality of the tourist, how much money they spend, goes lower every year. Stop building!!!

This off today's UK Gov.UK:

Before travelling to Thailand check with your insurance provider that they will continue to cover for claims arising from the current situation. Some travel insurance policies exclude cover following a military coup or the imposition of martial law, and your insurance may be invalid.

Any hard-working family with limited resources to spend on a foreign holiday this year (I exclude *ankers whose bonuses have rebounded nicely) will surely place LOS in the same bracket as Egypt, Libya & Iraq as sun-drenched places to 'give a miss' for the foreseeable future. Here in Shanghai, where until recently Thailand was a 4* place to decamp to away from the repression & pollution, people will laugh in your face if you speak of a 'holiday in Thailand'. The 'in-place' is once again Singapore - only just a bit more expensive than home and not a tank to be seen on the streets!

The die hard (no pun intended) sex tourists will come no matter what, families.....might be another story!

Unless army soldiers with loaded weapons on the city streets is your idea of Disney World!