Thailand: Push for more European tourists

[webfact]

TOURISM
Push for more European tourists
SUCHAT SRITAMA
THE NATION
LONDON


A Hanuman dancer performs in front of the Thai booth at World Travel Mart.

BANGKOK: -- Arrivals of European tourists are expected to rebound by 10 per cent in the rest of this year and next year as operators roll out short-term tactics to boost late bookings and promote the single-visa agreement with Cambodia.

James Bell, managing director of Turquoise Holidays in Britain, said yesterday that more visitors would travel to Thailand. The company has pushed out more sales and promotion activities as well as assured customers that Thailand is safe after political unrest culminated in another military coup.

If there is no crisis in the country especially in the remaining months of this year, British tourists will head to beaches and islands in Thailand, he said.

David Kevan, managing director of Chic Locations, reassured Thai operators that his firm would focus more on the Thai market as part of its plans for next year.

A representative of TUI Thomson from London Gatwick said Britain was one of strongest markets within the European region despite the decline in travel generally worldwide. Thailand's long-haul arrivals are increasing because of a short-term boost to late bookings for the high season and preparation for the off season next spring.

The company's charter-flight operation has been successful as expected, with more than 6,700 tour packages sold for Thailand. It is also set to step up marketing to boost sales from individuals in Britain throughout this year.

Online marketing and digital and social media are integral to a UK Thailand Fan Club that counts more than 70,000 fans, and this helps stimulate repeaters.

Eric Hallin, general manager of the Rembrandt Hotel and Towers in Bangkok, who claims the biggest portion of the British market in Bangkok, said foreign tourists were returning during this high season. Many can now fly directly into Phuket as Middle Eastern airlines are offering direct services to the resort island.

Seni Puwasetthawon, managing director of the Coral Cove Chalet Koh Samui, said foreign tourists travelling to Samui would climb by more than 10 per cent next year if there is no crisis.

The hotel basked in acceptance from buyers in Europe during a global world tourism fair held in London this week.

According to the Tourism Ministry, European visitors are among those lingering in Thailand the longest. Last year, Britons stayed an average of 17 days per visit, about double the 9.8-day average of all visitors. Europeans as a whole averaged 16 days.

Of the 26.5 million international arrivals last year, 6.1 million were from Europe, for a market share of 23 per cent, up 12 percentage points. This year, 6.5 million Europeans are expected to visit and, it is hoped, drop Bt458 billion into the country.

Last year, the United Kingdom alone accounted for 840,000 arrivals, increasing by 3 per cent. The figure should reach 879,000 this year, injecting Bt64 billion into the Thai economy.

Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said her ministry was projecting 6.9 million visitors from Europe and earnings of Bt505 billion from them for next year, and 909,000 visitors and earnings of Bt68 billion from the UK market alone.

Many major events have been planned at home next year as part of the country's "Discover Thainess" campaign. They include the Wai Kru Muay Thai ceremony in Ayutthaya in March, the Songkran New Year Festival in April and the Loy Krathong Festival in November.

There is also a bright future for the whole Asean market as the Thai government recently signed an agreement on the implementation of a single leisure visa with Cambodia. The government is set to sign deals with other neighbouring countries to draw travellers from third countries, particularly in Europe.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Push-for-more-European-tourists-30247172.html


-- The Nation 2014-11-07

[NeverSure]

What can one say?

[Thai at Heart]

What? After giving the developed world the two fingers and chasing Chinese and Russians, they want to now get their quality tourists back?

Amazing Thailand.....

[draftvader]

They do know there is only 8 weeks to go and the Western world has, on the whole, booked already for Christmas? Ooh, and there is this little issue.....

[draftvader]

Actually, for the first time in my ThaiVisa life, I'm calling troll!

[ukrules]

Are they still operating a strict policy at the Paris embassy refusing tourist visas to people who have visited more than a couple of times in the last year ?

[chooka]

I thought they were after quality tourists.?

[JOC]

Hope they are successful, with so many ordinary Thais dependant on the tourist-industry for their livelihood!!

[NongKhaiKid]

Short term tactics ?

Does that include jacking up rates for accommodation to make up for dismal takings so far ?

As I posted before my great pal due here at the end of the month for an extended stay is being quoted up to triple the amount he paid last time. No discount for long stay, no deals of any description, take it or leave it.

[JohnThailandJohn]

What? After giving the developed world the two fingers and chasing Chinese and Russians, they want to now get their quality tourists back?

Amazing Thailand.....

Judging from the article,they seem to rate them not much different than Cambodian tourists ... this is just one small part of tourism efforts. Beyond Russia, the top ten tourist arrivals by country this year probably won't include a European nation. Despite record breaking tourist numbers and revenue last year, the UK was 10th last year with less visitors than Australia and about 1/5th of that of China. Of the 26 Million visitors last year less than 3 Million were from Europe (excluding Russia)and remember how so many here love to say these numbers are not accurate because of border runs. Point being is I am sure they would love to see a higher increase than they saw last year with European tourists but it is just a piece of the pie. They were right to focus on China as they were able to capitalize on economic timing and increase Chinese visitors about 3 fold in as many years. While UK visitors over the last 10 years has been fairly steady with just a slight increase in this period. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Thailand#Top_20_arrivals_by_nationality

Edited November 6, 2014 by JohnThailandJohn

[jaltsc]

"... British tourists will head to beaches and islands in Thailand, he said."

And hopefully not get raped and murdered.

[RustBucket]

Tell us another one.

I like the way this James Bell geezer thinks that tourist decline is only due to the coup.

He couldn't be more wrong. There are many contributing factors.

Murder, corruption, bad security for tourists (no interest), crimes against tourists being released ever more regularly. Appalling human trafficking record now world news.

There are lots of things that contribute to people shying away from here. There are thousands of places to choose from to travel to. They just need to be made aware of these places through the travel agents authorities worldwide. That is what put Thailand where it was.

They didn't help themselves when two reps from the Australian Association of Travel Agents were attacked and one murdered a couple of years ago.... These are the things you can not reverse. Once you lose support from these organizations, it is game over.

[draftvader]

Tell us another one.

I like the way this James Bell geezer thinks that tourist decline is only due to the coup.

He couldn't be more wrong. There are many contributing factors.

Murder, corruption, bad security for tourists (no interest), crimes against tourists being released ever more regularly. Appalling human trafficking record now world news.

There are lots of things that contribute to people shying away from here. There are thousands of places to choose from to travel to. They just need to be made aware of these places through the travel agents authorities worldwide. That is what put Thailand where it was.

They didn't help themselves when two reps from the Australian Association of Travel Agents were attacked and one murdered a couple of years ago.... These are the things you can not reverse. Once you lose support from these organizations, it is game over.

James Bell will have been presented with significant incentives to drive business to Thailand. He'll say whatever needs to be said to make that money.

[Thai at Heart]

What? After giving the developed world the two fingers and chasing Chinese and Russians, they want to now get their quality tourists back?

Amazing Thailand.....

Judging from the article,they seem to rate them not much different than Cambodian tourists ... this is just one small part of tourism efforts. Beyond Russia, the top ten tourist arrivals by country this year probably won't include a European nation. Despite record breaking tourist numbers and revenue last year, the UK was 10th last year with less visitors than Australia and about 1/5th of that of China. Of the 26 Million visitors last year less than 3 Million were from Europe (excluding Russia)and remember how so many here love to say these numbers are not accurate because of border runs. Point being is I am sure they would love to see a higher increase than they saw last year with European tourists but it is just a piece of the pie. They were right to focus on China as they were able to capitalize on economic timing and increase Chinese visitors about 3 fold in as many years. While UK visitors over the last 10 years has been fairly steady with just a slight increase in this period. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Thailand#Top_20_arrivals_by_nationality

These numbers are all over the place from analysing tourism. Malaysia is normally first and Laos is in the top 10.

They all know the Europeans spend the most. No harm in admitting it.

They chased Russia, now the ruble is in the pan. They chased Chinese with zero cost tours. Boom. They chased Indian weddings.

Meanwhile the humble European sexpat got f*****d, except not IN Thailand.

Clean up Hua hin, samui and one other and make them really 5 star. Striftly zone phuket, turn patong into pattaya and clean up the rest. Let pattaya go back to what it does best.

Don't mix sex with family tourists.

Edited November 6, 2014 by Thai at Heart

[JOC]

Wonder what is hiding behind the masks in the OP?? Greed and violence??

[Prbkk]

Can these 'quality' tourists afford it? Euro, GBP, AUD , NZD and YEN all down quite significantly against the Baht in the past 12 months. The Baht remains stubbornly strong and seems to track closely to the USD for some reason, certainly unrelated to economic fundamentals.

These package tours would help fill rooms but as others have said it's very late in the day and they certainly do not represent the high value, high margin sector.

[ukrules]

Can these 'quality' tourists afford it? Euro, GBP, AUD , NZD and YEN all down quite significantly against the Baht in the past 12 months. The Baht remains stubbornly strong and seems to track closely to the USD for some reason, certainly unrelated to economic fundamentals.

These package tours would help fill rooms but as others have said it's very late in the day and they certainly do not represent the high value, high margin sector.

It's still way up on 3-5 years back from memory.

[BSJ]

Amazing Thailand! How true it is!

[jonclark]

Why is everyone so negative this morning?

Lets share the optimism its Friday!!

[tonbridgebrit]

How about they openly say that it will be more easy for European visitors to get tourist visas for Thailand ?

As in, gaurantee that the embassies in Laos and Cambodia will give tourist visas to Europeans, and it doesn't matter how many visits you've already had in Thailand ? Making it easier to get a tourist visa will probably increase the number of tourists. Making it more difficult might reduce the number of European visitors.

[MexicanFarang]

Pssst! This is entirely unnecessary.

Europeans already visit Thailand in massive numbers.

Although, technically "Asians", most Australians are ethnic Europeans.

G'day!

[alanferdi]

What can one say?

hahahahahahaa.... funny but thats exactly what I was thinking...... a year ago they shot themselves in the foot. Making claims on the chinese and other Asian tourists....

What they do not bring revenue? Oh you mean they ate not in the bars and restaurants? Shame.... perhaps this is why CP is thinking of opening up restaurants in some of their 7Eleven shops... boy oh boy....

Oh and they do not drink like the Europeans?

aha... and most of their end destination costs are paid fully in China, package tours and "Herd Tourism"

Thailand will have a very low high season this year. I am looking forward to listen to the the explainations

[ginjag]

Recently travelled to UK with Thai. TG 916. it was one of those aircraft for sale--yes A340 290 seats, not full.

and the price was way OTT.

Travelled back Lufthansa, up to date aircraft 350 seats full.

So long haul Thai are using smaller aircraft and not full, as opposed to Emirates A380 500+ at a lower price.

My point on topic is if you want more European tourists try looking at your flag carrier (Thai) and do something about aircraft selection and overpricing.

Surely the Thai national carrier should set the example and get them on board. But they haven't done this now for years, over priced policy===if you do not have the customers--put up the price---STUPID.

[JohnThailandJohn]

What? After giving the developed world the two fingers and chasing Chinese and Russians, they want to now get their quality tourists back?

Amazing Thailand.....

Judging from the article,they seem to rate them not much different than Cambodian tourists ... this is just one small part of tourism efforts. Beyond Russia, the top ten tourist arrivals by country this year probably won't include a European nation. Despite record breaking tourist numbers and revenue last year, the UK was 10th last year with less visitors than Australia and about 1/5th of that of China. Of the 26 Million visitors last year less than 3 Million were from Europe (excluding Russia)and remember how so many here love to say these numbers are not accurate because of border runs. Point being is I am sure they would love to see a higher increase than they saw last year with European tourists but it is just a piece of the pie. They were right to focus on China as they were able to capitalize on economic timing and increase Chinese visitors about 3 fold in as many years. While UK visitors over the last 10 years has been fairly steady with just a slight increase in this period. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Thailand#Top_20_arrivals_by_nationality

These numbers are all over the place from analysing tourism. Malaysia is normally first and Laos is in the top 10.

They all know the Europeans spend the most. No harm in admitting it.

They chased Russia, now the ruble is in the pan. They chased Chinese with zero cost tours. Boom. They chased Indian weddings.

Meanwhile the humble European sexpat got f*****d, except not IN Thailand.

Clean up Hua hin, samui and one other and make them really 5 star. Striftly zone phuket, turn patong into pattaya and clean up the rest. Let pattaya go back to what it does best.

Don't mix sex with family tourists.

Europeans spend the least per day but they stay longer than other countries ... an average of 16 1/2 Days compared to about 7 Days by Asians and a total average of 10 Days for all countries. So yes, overall they leave the most money here.

[Jim walker]

James Bell Thailand is safe after coupe I think he might have a few lawyers knocking on his door soon after a few more rapes robbings and attacks to ask him how he came to the conclusion Thailand is safe was it yesterday on TVF that someone commented that you have a 16% more chance getting killed in Thailand if you are a Brit, more than any other tourists.

[visionchaser45]

What can one say?

One can say, "How does it feel to want?" The only way to achieve a desired result is to do the right things. Magic has very little reliability and, I would suggest, zero validity.

[AlQaholic]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

What? After giving the developed world the two fingers and chasing Chinese and Russians, they want to now get their quality tourists back?

Amazing Thailand.....

Judging from the article,they seem to rate them not much different than Cambodian tourists ... this is just one small part of tourism efforts. Beyond Russia, the top ten tourist arrivals by country this year probably won't include a European nation. Despite record breaking tourist numbers and revenue last year, the UK was 10th last year with less visitors than Australia and about 1/5th of that of China. Of the 26 Million visitors last year less than 3 Million were from Europe (excluding Russia)and remember how so many here love to say these numbers are not accurate because of border runs. Point being is I am sure they would love to see a higher increase than they saw last year with European tourists but it is just a piece of the pie. They were right to focus on China as they were able to capitalize on economic timing and increase Chinese visitors about 3 fold in as many years. While UK visitors over the last 10 years has been fairly steady with just a slight increase in this period. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Thailand#Top_20_arrivals_by_nationality

Wish they could give statistics for each country of how much money is spent in Thailand......The three top countries in the Wiki would probably fall to the bottom of the list.

Sorry edit....

The first item in the list is not actually a country but ASEAN, why Malaysia then is listed separately is beyond my comprehension, Not to mention the one million quality tourists from Laos:))

Edited November 7, 2014 by AlQaholic

[AyG]

Pssst! This is entirely unnecessary.

Europeans already visit Thailand in massive numbers.

I believe there is a lot of scope to increase the number of European visitors.

Out of curiosity I calculated the number of visitors per thousand of the population for the top 20 countries by tourist arrivals.

Not surprisingly, the top of the list is dominated by Asian countries. The first non-Asian country is Australia with 39 per thousand of the population visiting each year.

Sweden comes next with a very similar 36/thousand.

It should be possible to bring the levels of other countries up to the 35 mark, e.g. UK (15), Russia (12), France (9), Germany (9).

The United States provides very few visitors (3). Again, it should be possible to increase these numbers, despite the travel distance.

Of course, the potential for increasing the number of visitors from wealthy occidental countries doesn't actually mean that TAT will be able to deliver.

[AlQaholic]

Problem with US is they live to work, while Sweden and Australia work to live:))

[misterphil]

"The company has pushed out more sales and promotion activities as well as assured customers that Thailand is safe after political unrest culminated in another military coup"

Forgot to mention to the British Tourist.

• Don't rent jet skis
• Don't wear gold
• Don't walk the streets late at night
• Don't trust a man that's dressed like a woman to give you a cheap massage
• Don't trust a taxi driver cause he might drive off with your bags
• Don't shop at the duty free in the airport when you go home cause you might get accused of stealing

And if you are there and there's a military coup you aren't allowed out between 22:00 to 05:00