Thailand confident tourist arrivals will hit 2014 target

[webfact]

Thailand confident tourist arrivals will hit 2014 target
By Digital Content



BANGKOK, July 22 -- The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) is confident the country's tourism industry will bounce back in the second half of 2014 and that it would reach the targeted 26.2 million visitors by the end of the year.

Thanate Vorasaran, TCT Tourism Development Division vice president, told journalists today that tourism entrepreneurs in Thailand were confident that more tourists would visit Thailand in the second half of 2014, despite the industry being negatively affected by the political crisis in the first half of the year.

Mr Thanate said tourists will start returning to Thailand in August, especially those from South Korea, Japan and China, as a result of the visa fee exemption for tourists from China and Taiwan as part of the celebration of the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the Thailand and China.

According to Mr Thanet, the TCT believed the number of tourist arrivals would hit the target of 26.8 million and generate about Bt1.9 trillion by the end of 2014.

The TCT, meanwhile, advised the National Council for Peace and Order, now administering the country, to work to ensure tourist safety and security as well as solving 'the mafia problem' in major tourist destinations to uplift the tourism industry and to boost the long-term confidence of international visitors. (MCOT online news)

 

[tna]2014-07-22[/tna]

[AGareth2]

does the right hand know the left?

[terryp]

this is starting to look at lot like an OBSESSION ...maybe if they keep saying it often enough it might come true in their minds.....nothing to do with _{TOURISTS CANT GET INSURANCE COVER}

[khwaibah]

does the right hand know the left?

 

Speaking of Bull Shyt.... http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/744995-malaysia-airlines-mh17-tragedy-to-affect-thai-tourism-official/

 

Unbeleavible.   

[jaltsc]

"The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) is confident the country's tourism industry will bounce back in the second half of 2014 and that it would reach the targeted 26.2 million visitors by the end of the year."

 

What they failed to mention is that the" country..." they were talking about was Cambodia.  

[Thailand]

That' alright then,job done!

[Oryx816]

His calculator is broken, he did the math in his head.

[ginjag]

TAT  Bull----TCT  Bull----any more ???    Oh theres the sport and tourism,   can other posters name any more tourism authorities.   PLEASE form 1 tourism Thailand.   Suggest TT   sack the rest---people now class them as a joke,   Most persons over the years have the same opinion.  Thai people would not know who controls,   most don't care-----talk about thick.  That's why these bodies exist cause no one objects and governments leave their mates in work there.

[ChrisY1]

this is starting to look at lot like an OBSESSION ...maybe if they keep saying it often enough it might come true in their minds.....nothing to do with _{TOURISTS CANT GET INSURANCE COVER}

 

As is said..."if you keep telling lies all the time, eventually people start to believe it"............

Martial Law deters people travelling to countries where it is enforced...........

[djjamie]

I think it is a bit of wishful thinking that they will get the target numbers for the year because looking at the graphs below the tragic terrorist attacks really put an extreme dent in arrivals this year compared to 2013. Extreme dent to say the least and this culminated in May before peace and stability were restored by the Junta. It will be interesting to see the continuation of this graph throughout the year because June is when the numbers start bouncing back again.

 

These graphs don't lie and it shows that the Junta have in fact saved the tourism sector from further downfall by stepping in when they did. 

 

Thankfully all tourists can still get insurance as well thanks to the Junta's initiatives though there is a perception that insurance is unattanable which then falls back onto the TAT to get the message out that it is. Also Rob Whelan needs to spread the message in Australia that insurance is not an issue.

 

Rob Whelan, chief executive of the Insurance Council of Australia, said policies would not be voided due to the coup but exclusions would apply.

 

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has teamed up with three major Thai insurance agencies to provide special coverage for foreign visitors.

 

With that said there is absolutely no doubt tourist numbers will rebound, but to get the target figure set for 2014? No way. The terrorists did too much damage for the Junta to recover the tourist numbers after the damage done by the previous regime.

 

 

Edited July 22, 2014 by djjamie

[givenall]

official here either don't talk to each other or just want to confuse everyone so no one question them.

 

I just read that the Malaysia airline downing will effect the tourism an now everything should be ok

[Suriya4]

Even after MH2 down? Not to mention MH370

[Tomtomtom69]

this is starting to look at lot like an OBSESSION ...maybe if they keep saying it often enough it might come true in their minds.....nothing to do with _{TOURISTS CANT GET INSURANCE COVER}

 

Tourism has always been an obsession in Thailand. It seems like it's all the government ever talks about and consequently it's about the only thing that most foreigners outside of Thailand, that have never been to Thailand associate the country with (apart from prostitution of course). One would think that 95% of the Thai economy is based on tourism given all the rhetoric when in fact it's only about 10% according to Channel News Asia (not 6% as some people have said in the past). Even so, that's only 1/10 of the economy. While I expect tourism to make up an even greater slice of the economy in future years as some forms of manufacturing will decline as costs become too high in Thailand, thus moving that production to neighboring countries, I still don't see tourism making up more than 15-20% of the economy anytime soon. Of course time will tell, particularly with the ASEAN AEC closer economic cooperation.

 

What I don't understand is what's so good about mass tourism? Do Thais really like foreigners that much? I used to think so back in the naive old days when I couldn't speak Thai and didn't know what all the smiles were about, but these days I'm convinced it's not like that. Get off the mass tourism obsession Thailand, we're all getting sick and tired of your "tourism targets" and I think I can speak for many ordinary Thai people too (except for those directly working in tourism). Now with the immigration crackdown we can also expect that the numbers of actual tourists will more reflect the reality: 10 million or so per year, because the rest was made up of visa runners, business people that enter Thailand multiple times yearly and backpackers/travellers that enter and re-enter Thailand a couple of times while traveling around the region, mainly to connect to/from international flights. With the first group apparently about to be culled, that means millions of less entries for the second half of this year compared to previous years.

[gerry123]

how the fcuk can this ever be   with all the stuff happening this year   no genuine tourist would even consider  coming here at the moment

 

 

remember us expats can see first hand the rebirth    none of new will be in the foreign media  

[DLock]

Good, now all the tourism based businesses that have been whining that they can't survive and there are no customers can shut up at last.

[crazygreg44]

 

 

 

Tourism has always been an obsession in Thailand. It seems like it's all the government ever talks about and consequently it's about the only thing that most foreigners outside of Thailand, that have never been to Thailand associate the country with (apart from prostitution of course). One would think that 95% of the Thai economy is based on tourism given all the rhetoric when in fact it's only about 10% according to Channel News Asia (not 6% as some people have said in the past). Even so, that's only 1/10 of the economy. While I expect tourism to make up an even greater slice of the economy in future years as some forms of manufacturing will decline as costs become too high in Thailand, thus moving that production to neighboring countries, I still don't see tourism making up more than 15-20% of the economy anytime soon. Of course time will tell, particularly with the ASEAN AEC closer economic cooperation.

 

What I don't understand is what's so good about mass tourism? Do Thais really like foreigners that much? I used to think so back in the naive old days when I couldn't speak Thai and didn't know what all the smiles were about, but these days I'm convinced it's not like that. Get off the mass tourism obsession Thailand, we're all getting sick and tired of your "tourism targets" and I think I can speak for many ordinary Thai people too (except for those directly working in tourism). Now with the immigration crackdown we can also expect that the numbers of actual tourists will more reflect the reality: 10 million or so per year, because the rest was made up of visa runners, business people that enter Thailand multiple times yearly and backpackers/travellers that enter and re-enter Thailand a couple of times while traveling around the region, mainly to connect to/from international flights. With the first group apparently about to be culled, that means millions of less entries for the second half of this year compared to previous years.

 

 

I would really love if you could support and proove your 10 % theory , not to mention the absurd expectation of ever achieving a 15-20% gross revenue through income from tourism.  Please supply some reliable sources which can highlight  the 10% theory.  I would not be surprised if it was less than 5%.  

 

Have you ever been in the parts of Thailand where there are no tourists at all ?  Are you aware of the high revenues Thai industry achieves by exports ?  Try to compare this to the small tickle tourists leave during their stays.  Maybe the CP group which owns 50% of the big hotels, maybe THEY sack in big money.  But let me remind you, very many group tours and individual holidays are being ordered and PAID abroad, not inside Thailand !  It's these profits that will never arrive in Thailand. If they counted, they would add up to 7% - 10%. However this money never arrives in Thailand, it's been sunk in HK or SG

 

Ah, and yes, the second part of your post is scratching reality, you are actually shining a lot of light onto this.  And such is, that exactly these slower-as-esteemed numbers of tourists must obviously counter-act your 10% solidification.  

 

No number , high or small, of "Hi-So" tourists, will change anything. The money they spend are going into the coffers of the big industry (hotel groups and their related businesses). This industry employs how much percentage of overall workforce in Thailand ? Maybe if we knew the number of people working directly in th tourism industry, we could better estimate how important tourism is for the average Thai.

Edited July 22, 2014 by crazygreg44

[NongKhaiKid]

official here either don't talk to each other or just want to confuse everyone so no one question them.

 

I just read that the Malaysia airline downing will effect the tourism an now everything should be ok

Plus the boss of Swampy said only a few days ago that he expected arrivals to be down 7.7% for the year.

Each of them lives in their own little world and none of them are in the same real world as the rest of us.

[BudRight]

I am sure that there was an article a few weeks ago saying that Swampy already had 44 million arrivals this year. Seriously what the fuck is with this reporting?

[Emster23]

I am looking forward to arrivals numbers now that "accidental tourists" (visa runners) will no longer be allowed to return. Anyone have any realistic number how many of those runs were made per month prior to the crackdown?

[upena]

This is the same TCT that said that martial law would be good for tourism.  Also, keep in mind that the 26 million number is a drop from the 28 million initially forecast for 2014 and 30 million for 2015.  As far as tourism revenue, it is a pure guess as no one can know how much each tourist spends.

[godden]

Do these people never quit with the BS

[ginjag]

The TAT should be disbanded, along with the TCT and the sports and tourism.

 

 

1 Agency to run the job for tourism---and a separate one for sport--and so on get them private and competitive they then have to fund properly not run off an annual 6 billion budget.

State railways--Thai Airways- and the rest of these government loss departments  etc., -have them run by private enterprize, to be overlooked by WATCH DOGS.

[ebean001]

I think they have forgotten we are still under martial law. That needs to stop especially in Chiang Mai.

[Rimmer]

One inflammatory post has been removed:

 

8) Do not post disruptive or inflammatory messages, vulgarities, obscenities or profanities or to incite useless arguments by avoiding troll activity.

[webfact]

Tourism to recover fast with more returning during high season end of the year
 


BANGKOK: -- The tourism sector is now confident that foreign tourists will be returning during the high season later in the year with tourist numbers reaching 26.8 millions this year.

 

Deputy chairman for tourism development of the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) Thanes Worasarun and former TCT chairman Kongkrit Hirankit were in agreement that the tourism sector of Thailand has come through its lowest point during the month of June.

As of the present, operators are more confident of the security issue which is reflected in the continued influx of foreign tourist despite the fact that the country is still under martial law.

This has raised confidence that the tourism outlook for the country for the remaining part of the year will see an increase of about 15 million tourists.

The total number of tourists for 2014 should tally with the 26.8 million tourists projected which is more than the 26.5 million projected for the previous year.

The increase in tourist numbers should generate about 1.9 trillion baht in income for the country.

They said that significant improvements should start to be visible from the month of August onward and by September, tourism numbers will experience positive growth.

The three main groups of tourists to Thailand are from Korea, Japan and China and projections are that tourist numbers will increase to about 28 million for the year 2015.

This should bring in an estimated 2.2 trillion baht in tourist income to the country.

“After the resolution of the political crisis in the country, tourist growth statistics has rebounded to two figures. The lowest being only 18% and it has stayed that way for a while. We plotted a graph and it showed that projections were accurate because Thailand remains the destination of choice in the region and we possess major strengths in the service sector over our competitors,” Thanes Worasarun, deputy chairman for tourism development for TCT said.

Kongkrit Hirankit, former chairman of TCT also said, “If this year’s tourism figures show zero or no growth, then we expect that in 2015 the figures should show no less than 10% growth. This is because of historical trends in the tourism sector for the Thailand. Whenever there is zero growth in a particular year then the following year will almost always experience positive growth.”

Meanwhile Thai Air Asia chief executive officer Tassapon Bijleveld said despite of the visa fee exemption for Chinese tourists next month the government should also consider looking into tax reductions measures for businesses involved in the tourism sector such as hotels.

The savings taxes can then be used for tourism development campaigns.

Furthermore, he stated that the expected lifting of martial law by August of this year will help to attract even more tourists during the high season which falls during the final months of this year and extends into the early months of 2015.

Mr Tassaporn commented that tourists normally make travel plans two months in advance and should the number of tourists for later this year not show any improvements, the total numbers of tourists for 2014 could fall by as much as 20 – 30%.

Worryingly, information received from tour agents are showing that for the first time, more and more Chinese tourists are travelling to Korea instead of coming to Thailand which was previously their favored destination.

The total number of tourist for June 2014 stood at 1,559,000 which is a 24% drop in statistics for the same period from 2013.

The main reduction in numbers is due to the more than 41% drop in the number of Chinese tourists to the country.

Chinese tourists are the largest group of visitors to Thailand and the National Council for Peace and Order has granted visa fees exemptions for Chinese and Taiwanese nationals for the month of August in hopes of attracting them back to the country. One thousand baht is normally charged for visa fees.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/tourism-recover-fast-returning-high-season-end-year/

[thaipbs]2014-07-23[/thaipbs]

[terryp]

another day another desperate attempt to brainwash people .....until the insurance of tourists under Marshall law is sorted dont expect miracles

[khwaibah]

Guess they have not seen the ares whipping the baht is doing to western exchange rates. I don't think so..

[wotsdermatter]

After living in Thailand since 1994, with a few years in China and time in Canada for 3 joint replacement surgeries, I am still amazed at the naivety of Thai government agencies with their projected numbers especially for tourists.  A very recent survey by MasterCard refutes the figures by showing that London is still number one place for tourists and Bangkok is number 2 (I have not been able to find the numbers yet).  Bangkok is number 1 for people from other Asian countries, probably due to haow much cheaper it is , except for Chinese tourists.  However, the Mastercard Global Cities Index report shows that London will receive some 18.7 million visitors from overseas/international in 2014.  Bangkok, as second on the list cannot possibly receive the numbers that Thai projects claim.  Interesting how the cookie crumbles when figures from different sources are presented.  Lead on MacDuff.  'nuf sed.

[Mango Bob]

No matter what the real number of tour are they will say they exceeded their goal.

[spidermike007]

Fascinating "made up post". There are a percentage of politicians in this country, that just feel if you say something, then it will be taken as fact. I suppose a percentage of people who read stuff, believe it. So, you are always going to be able to fool a few people. But why not engage in proactive actions? If you want Thailand to really "come back", why not implement policies that will bring it back? There is a long way to go, to truly "come back". 

 

How about a 40% discount on all Thai Airline tickets for the next 12 months? It is called a proactive marketing strategy. How about the arrest of all the jet ski scammers in Pattaya, Phuket and Samui? That would be something these neophyte marketing guys could promote. How about relaxing, rather than tightening the tourist visa policies? Free multiple entry visas. How about offering a very good, and well priced national insurance policy for tourists, to take the place of the ones they cannot get now, due to the military takeover? How about engaging is a massive clean up of the beaches on Koh Samui. How about implementing real traffic safety here, so less tourists who rent motorbikes leave in a body bag? How about doing something positive, anything positive, and real, rather than traveling all over the world jaw boning? Words only have so much impact. Real action, a real demonstration of the awareness of the extent of the problem, and the willingness to fix it, might go a long way towards making a sincere statement to the world. I think that is what people are looking for. Sincerity instead of BS.