Thailand confident tourist arrivals will hit 2014 target

[Tony125]

No way will the tourism come back  to reach their 2014 goal .  NHK Worl tv report showed that China and Russia have been going to South Korea with tourism from Russia had grown by 20 per cent last month due to relaxing of visa rules. Why come to Thailand where they see thier long term tourists being denide rentry when just go to a country that welcomes them.

[Krataiboy]

Bouncy-bouncy!

[ginjag]

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

 

It is a biggish issue, but relating to persons that get insurance most tourists don't know what Marshall law consists of---they want to get away and have 2 weeks in the sun away from dreary work.  and most holidays are well pre booked before Marshall law came into effect.

 

Back in the UK  most families as soon as the new year is over and winter is on their backs they start to scan the travel agents for prices.

 

Another thread speaks numbers down, ex pats speak it's quiet, if ex pats speak it's quiet I will believe them after all they are here-in numbers.

 

China has cut back drastically-also the Russians,     We used to call this BUMF in government circles, who is confident ??  the persons running around like headless chickens to show they are earning their keep.   sack the lot at TAT.   and at AOT while your at it.

[Jim walker]

High end Sexpats flood back to Thailand due to falling

[alfalfa19]

Confidence is good in many scenarios.  But sometimes reality must intrude. 

[ginjag]

High end Sexpats flood back to Thailand due to falling

 

over drunk at the airport.  (just finishing your sentence)     

[kerrysum]

does the right hand know the left?

I do not think so,
My wife has been home, for almost 2 months, she wants to come home now.... And I have not been back for 8 years, been involved for over 30 years. I just think old guys rule.... Because they have seen how much the LOS has changed.
Just my opinion. Oh, and by the way? Haven't seen much change either, except for, sending some family through college. These young ones are what I respect, because they have old Thai respect. Just an old fart from Issan, and yes even that has changed.... As for the new ones? Your guess is as good as mine. Now let us see what transpires.
Just my thoughts... kilosierra

[gwynt]

So they openly admit that there is a "Mafia Problem" but don't seem capable or able to close down the problem!!

 

(Quote)   "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."

The National Council for Peace and Order are making huge strides to address the "Problem" but it's still a big reason why many tourists, both international and local are loathe to visit these places.

 

[belg]

i hope they inform the maffia first and give them options to do some rescholing in some less maffia based activity to please the happy boss

Edited July 23, 2014 by belg

[tso310]

As a destination for non backpackers Thailand is now, for Europeans, been there done the shopping, culture, beach etc. Now its time for somewhere new. When most people can only afford one long haul holiday a year why should they keep going back to the same country. With the world cup providing some great images of Brazil and throw in MH17 I can see people turning to south america for something different this winter. The days of high levels of reasonably well tourists from Europe has come to an end. 

[richard10365]

Thailand is still behind Malaysia's 28 million tourist. 

[Tomtomtom69]

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

Where do you come up with less than 5%. It's easily 10% and as I stated my source was Channel News Asia. Now if that's not a good enough source for you, then I don't know what is. I'm quite sure that I can trust Channel News Asia more than you, with your "I feel it's less than 5%".

 

If you've ever been to Pattaya, Phuket, Samui and other places you'd quickly realize that tourism is booming in those places and services such as prostitution, hotels, restaurants are all directly related to tourism, not just boat rides to outlying islands or tour operators.

And yes I feel that 15-20% in future is very achievable.

 

Thailand's economy is about 25-30% manufacturing exports, but over time more services will take up a larger share of the economy, at the eventual expense of manufacturing.

 

Get off your high horse and be realistic. Everyone know's that Thailand's economy has a high dependence on tourism, stop trying to be in denial.

 

[ginjag]

Thailand is still behind Malaysia's 28 million tourist. 

 

And Malaysia has not got Thailands TAT to boost figures/ predictions/expectations/needs/ wants/forecasts/scope/ high end/ Asians.

 

Soon they will be sweet mouthed again when Asians start to drop off, and turn to westerners who put them on the map initially.

[ginjag]

 

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

Where do you come up with less than 5%. It's easily 10% and as I stated my source was Channel News Asia. Now if that's not a good enough source for you, then I don't know what is. I'm quite sure that I can trust Channel News Asia more than you, with your "I feel it's less than 5%".

 

If you've ever been to Pattaya, Phuket, Samui and other places you'd quickly realize that tourism is booming in those places and services such as prostitution, hotels, restaurants are all directly related to tourism, not just boat rides to outlying islands or tour operators.

And yes I feel that 15-20% in future is very achievable.

 

Thailand's economy is about 25-30% manufacturing exports, but over time more services will take up a larger share of the economy, at the eventual expense of manufacturing.

 

Get off your high horse and be realistic. Everyone know's that Thailand's economy has a high dependence on tourism, stop trying to be in denial.

 

 

 

When Thailand does not want to admit the % slice re tourism it is about 8%,  all the time they know full well it is way over double that but will not look deeper into   (follow the money spent)  because they cannot.    The big tourist money is spent on the unseen /   girls/boys/pubs /disco's/karaoke/ food outlets/street venders/beach chair and bills/rent car/bikes transport, guest house/rented homes/ petrol/fashion/hair/massage +++++ where is this shown ???    it's not like a tour operator/pre booked holidays-rent car pre booked/ atm card users/ flights/  +++ these can easily monitored and computerized. to make the figures.   Problem with % stats is you get out what you input.

[richard10365]

In Chiang Mai, 30% of every baht spent comes from tourism. 

[MrY]

 

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.

 

 

7.7% down seems just about correct. Don Muang and other airports international arrivals are up and TAT tourist arrivals 'target' is down from 2013.

[MrY]

Thailand confident tourist arrivals will hit revised 2014 target

 

There, fixed it for ya.

 

In Dec 2013 [even with the ongoing demonstrations] the TAT target was 28.0 million (5% up). Then when things were looking more serious it was 24.x million (~10% down). Now it's 26.1 million (still down from 26.7 million of  2013). If you keep on moving the target to meet the numbers, you will always hit your target.

 

Years ago when Thailand first got their much desired 10 million arrivals they even demolished the 90 day visa exemption rule to get a few hundred thousand more arrivals (That more than doubled the number of visa runs overnight), inconveniencing thousands of people in the process. Before that nobody paid any attention to how and how long you stayed in Thailand (I've got old passports to prove it) and visa service agents were openly handing over stacks of passports at immigration checkpoints. They just didn't care.

[khaowong1]

[attachment=276374:oh my god.jpg]

[iphad]

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.

 

Source: Mastercard Global Cities Index for 2013 http://www.rediff.com/business/slide-show/slide-show-1-special-20-cities-attracting-most-tourists-in-the-world/20130814.htm#1
Bangkok International overnight visitors in 2013: 15.98 million

London International overnight visitors in 2013: 15.96 million

Paris International overnight visitors in 2013: 13.92 million

 

who cares who is #1 or #2 or #3?

The point of the OP is that tourists hopefully will still come to Thailand in 2014 after the rocky first 6 months to the year.

I'm sure some people prefer London to Thailand or even Paris..some people prefer Idaho to London.

If you come to Thailand based on it being #1 or not coming because it's #10 or inbetween..

I live in Bangkok because it's #1 for me

[BigBadGeordie]

Did this guy audit the rice scheme.?

Sent from my GT-P3100B using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[Ulic]

 

 

 

 

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.

 

 

As I understand tourism makes up 6% of the Thai GDP but increases to 9-10% when you factor in sex tourism. Although I have seen

some TV posters claim 25% with the sex tourism.( but quoting no sources, just a personal thought I guess). With most countries GDP

70% domestic consumer driven a 9-10% number for tourism represents a big chunk of foreign currency brought into Thailand. That said

I also understand not all Thai tourism is foreign. Thais go on holiday in Thailand as well.

 

[Tony125]

http://news.msn.com/world/thousands-of-russians-stranded-abroad-as-tour-operator-fails  

 

Check out url   MSN reports 16,000 Russians stranded overseas  when tour companies folded. Companies stated that due to sanctions and Ukrain problems Russian  tourism expected to be down 30 to 50 percent of last year. Guess Thailand won't be hitting thier tourism target especially with reporting everytime you change provinces and other visa rules.