Tourism industry players suggest how to improve Thailand's competitiveness

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TOURIST BUSINESS
Tourism industry players suggest how to improve Kingdom's competitiveness
SUCHAT SRITAMA
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- Experts from the airline, hotel, and travel industries have proposed initiatives to improve country's ability to compete in the growing global tourism market.

Speaking at a tourism conference on "Imagine Thailand 2020" hosted by the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), representatives of businesses involved in tourism made several proposals with high hopes of bringing in more tourists as well as increasing the country's competitiveness in the long term.

Patee Sarasin, chief executive officer of low-cost airline Nok Air, urged the government to make the whole country a duty-free destination, which should attract a lot more visitors.

"Some people might be against this idea, but this is the right way to attract people to come and shop here," he said.

He added that all stakeholders could achieve their goals if they focused on the right target segments.

On the same panel, William Heinecke, chairman and CEO of Minor International Hotel Group, said Thailand could remain an attractive destination for international tourists as the country featured a variety of tourism products and services.

However, he said, the country need to improve international air connectivity of major tourist destinations such as Pattaya and Hua Hin.

To reduce tourists' travel time, the government should upgrade U-tapao Airport near Pattaya and Hua Hin Airport in the west to international airports so that people could fly directly to those areas without going through Bangkok, he said. Tourists from key markets such as Singapore and Hong Kong currently were taking more than four hours or maybe half a day to reach Pattaya and Hua Hin, and that was too much time.

Heinecke said Indonesia and the Philippines suffered from poor air-transport infrastructure. Thailand can learn from the failures of those countries.

Kanok Abhiradee, former president of Thai Airways International, said the country should not ignore low season, as that period could still be promoted to lure foreign visitors.

"In the past, THAI used to deny low season for two years without doing nothing that time. It caused the airline lost many travelers," said Kanok.

He urged tourism bodies to rethink about low season and turn that slow period into an opportunity by offering attractive packages and promotions.

According to PATA statistics, the top tourist sources for Thailand last year were China, Malaysia, Russia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, India, the United Kingdom, Singapore and Australia. A total of 24.7 million foreigners visited Thailand with estimated total spending of Bt1.13 trillion.

Domestic travel totalled 136.2 million person-trips with spending of Bt680 billion.

The revenue earned from foreign visitors in January this year soared to Bt124 billion, an increase of 7.84 per cent from the same month last year of Bt115 billion.

The Department of Tourism estimates that Thailand will receive a total of 29 million tourists by the end of 2015, with expected foreign-exchange earnings of Bt1.4 trillion. Domestically, Thai tourists will have 139 person-trips, with estimated spending of Bt800 billion.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Tourism-industry-players-suggest-how-to-improve-Ki-30256367.html


-- The Nation 2015-03-20

[Johnsen]

U mean they are going to give up on just raising prices when things get slow. Nahh I won't believe it.

They might want to start with abolishing double pricing at most of their outdated tourist attractions.

Bet nobody suggested that one.

[Soutpeel]

I note nothing mentioned about cracking down on the various scams, intimidation of people etc

the BIB taking law and order would be a good start,

instead of these "grand" idea's and initiatives and sweeping changes, why don't they just fix what they got

[clockman]

They always use the word Lure. This means they just look on you as an easy victim.!

[ezzra]

Look at what is going on in Chiang Mai at the moment, the place in engulf in smoke and

burned particle in the air and visibility is reduced to almost the front of your nose,

this is NOT conducive to a country that expecting 25 million tourists that many of them

will want to travel to the north,

The rest of the country is more or less ok, you can't expect perfection with such large

country with this huge tourists intake....

[robertthebruce]

Try cleaning the place up, Trash everywhere....

[kalbo123]

Look at what is going on in Chiang Mai at the moment, the place in engulf in smoke and

burned particle in the air and visibility is reduced to almost the front of your nose,

this is NOT conducive to a country that expecting 25 million tourists that many of them

will want to travel to the north,

The rest of the country is more or less ok, you can't expect perfection with such large

country with this huge tourists intake....

It's just 1 or 2 months of smog for sure the tourists will be back.. they do that every year.

Besides that, the Chinese tourists, a large group of CM tourists don't care at all, for them this is moderate smog.

[JAG]

Three words: stop the scams!

[NeverSure]

They always use the word Lure. This means they just look on you as an easy victim.!

Scheme. You forgot scheme, LOL.

[NongKhaiKid]

Oh yee of little faith, TAT always rides to the rescue just look at the figures they produce to prove it.

[JOC]

Dear tourist-gurus.

Maybe the visitors are going down in numbers because they are tired of paying premium prices for a third class product??

Thailand is not cheap anymore!!

[khwaibah]

Abolish the Ministry of Propaganda TAT.

[Strangebrew]

To truly compete in the world tourism market place Thailand needs to have one price for all on everything.

[BSJ]

"Patee Sarasin, chief executive officer of low-cost airline Nok Air, urged the government to make the whole country a duty-free destination, which should attract a lot more visitors."

'make the whole country a duty-free destination' Make it for those that live here as well. Duty is just another name for tax. We pay 7% tax on everything as it is and some rates they charge for duty tax are criminal.

[LuckyLew]

I do not agree with a duty free country, the Gov't needs the revenue from somewhere

Poor Thailand, they had great attractions and used to be a beautiful country, but they let it go to pot, they took what was once beautiful and used it to make money without thinking about tomorrow. No thought was put into sustaining the existing attractions.

[zyphodb]

They could start with stopping Tourist murders and them framing immigrants for them, followed by stopping all the scams... I won't hold my breath...

[pomchop]

I guess TAT doesn't have or know how to use google. If they google grand palace gem scam they will only get page after page after page of tourists telling how they were ripped off at one of the most revered tourist sites in all thailand...The Grand Palace. Then google jet ski or taxi mafia scams and get a few zillion more stories of tourists being ripped off, beaten up or worse right in front of the cameras.

But heck it's only been going on for a few decades so how would the TAT know?

IF IF they wanted to shut these black eye scams down it might take about one hour to identify the scammers......when you allow scams to go on for decades at your TOP tourist attractions what message does that send to potential tourists?

The sad thing is it is a few bad apples that continue to give Thailand a black eye year after year after year and no matter who is in power they continue to operate with impunity.

Shame on TAT for not addressing these scam issues.

[madmitch]

"In the past, THAI used to deny low season for two years without doing nothing that time. It caused the airline lost many travelers," said Kanok. He urged tourism bodies to rethink about low season and turn that slow period into an opportunity by offering attractive packages and promotions.

Is this guy on the same planet? Haven't the hotels been doing this for years? Yes, but Thai Airways, under his tenure, did not!

[yellowboat]

The worst thing are the predators at the airport departures. Their negative, less than pleasant demeanor put off those who do not know Thailand well.

Duty free at the airports sucks too. Prices are not all that great compared to Singapore or Hong Kong.

[o2eZy]

have to admit since I have been here for 2 years have notices the double standards between farang and Thai....bought a dog..lasted 2 days and died from Parvo Virus ..dog cost 12K vet bill another 3K...went back to see shop at JJmall and was told bad luck..

had a house built ..plumbing is krap ..can't go into upstairs spare bathroom for methane fumes ...walls are cracking...can't get the car up the driveway without it bottoming out ...and the builder is not available

has anyone had these problems and if so who can I see to rectify this Thainess problem

[gerry1011]

A piece of news and the bitter thaivisa posters are out in force... with 100% negative posts, as usual.

How depressing.

Well, even if I am not involved in the tourism industry, I was at that conference.

First, it was an initiative of PATA and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (of the present interim government, as the minister pointed out). It was not an initiative of TAT, which posters here quickly assumed.

The participants were coming from all possible horizons (China, ASEAN, India, Thailand, Australia, Europe, ...) and all industries related to tourism. Quite interesting people, by the way.

Second, there was a very positive atmosphere, with participants bringing constructive suggestions for improvement in the future, and solutions to present situations. It was a kind of large scale brainstorming session. Very interesting.

A very sharp contrast to the depressing posts that we can read on this forum.

The shortfalls of Thailand were also mentioned and solutions were suggested by the participants.

The main shortfalls were: Cleanliness, safety, urban development, road infrastructure, parking convenience, etc...

Another point that was mentioned was of course the "sex tourism and sex Industry" phenomenon... which the present interim government does not seem to be totally happy with and would not mind to replace with another type of more positive image (many posters on here surely won't agree with this particular one).

The goal of this conference was to help the present administration to set a clear road map for the next government to work on.

[clockman]

have to admit since I have been here for 2 years have notices the double standards between farang and Thai....bought a dog..lasted 2 days and died from Parvo Virus ..dog cost 12K vet bill another 3K...went back to see shop at JJmall and was told bad luck..

had a house built ..plumbing is krap ..can't go into upstairs spare bathroom for methane fumes ...walls are cracking...can't get the car up the driveway without it bottoming out ...and the builder is not available

has anyone had these problems and if so who can I see to rectify this Thainess problem

Been there, done that!

[clockman]

In a word, Third World.

[maidee]

the easy & fast way is indeed increasing the price when demands lowers

thainess

against all economic logic

but it is a hell lot cheaper than building a rail road to pattaya / hua hin ...

wink wink

[Wilsonandson]

A piece of news and the bitter thaivisa posters are out in force... with 100% negative posts, as usual.

How depressing.

Well, even if I am not involved in the tourism industry, I was at that conference.

First, it was an initiative of PATA and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (of the present interim government, as the minister pointed out). It was not an initiative of TAT, which posters here quickly assumed.

The participants were coming from all possible horizons (China, ASEAN, India, Thailand, Australia, Europe, ...) and all industries related to tourism. Quite interesting people, by the way.

Second, there was a very positive atmosphere, with participants bringing constructive suggestions for improvement in the future, and solutions to present situations. It was a kind of large scale brainstorming session. Very interesting.

A very sharp contrast to the depressing posts that we can read on this forum.

The shortfalls of Thailand were also mentioned and solutions were suggested by the participants.

The main shortfalls were: Cleanliness, safety, urban development, road infrastructure, parking convenience, etc...

Another point that was mentioned was of course the "sex tourism and sex Industry" phenomenon... which the present interim government does not seem to be totally happy with and would not mind to replace with another type of more positive image (many posters on here surely won't agree with this particular one).

The goal of this conference was to help the present administration to set a clear road map for the next government to work on.

gerry1011, Thankyou for your stereotyping of a typical forum poster here on TV. We all appreciate your image of us expats living over here. The view points of Westerners living in Thailand are an important part of the Thai Tourist Industry. My friends and family visit Thailand every year, they love the country as much as me and tell there friends to visit Thailand too. Word of mouth is an important part of advertising. We are not all sex perverts and criminals on the run. Most consider Thailand as a second home and just like the Thai people have pride in the country the recide in. I myself have in a way started to turn into a Thai if not by nationality then by speaking Thai alot, having alot of Thai friends and enjoying the community spirit. The expat that hates Thailand is false. He's just having a bad day.

[tomacht8]

I guess TAT doesn't have or know how to use google. If they google grand palace gem scam they will only get page after page after page of tourists telling how they were ripped off at one of the most revered tourist sites in all thailand...The Grand Palace. Then google jet ski or taxi mafia scams and get a few zillion more stories of tourists being ripped off, beaten up or worse right in front of the cameras.

But heck it's only been going on for a few decades so how would the TAT know?

IF IF they wanted to shut these black eye scams down it might take about one hour to identify the scammers......when you allow scams to go on for decades at your TOP tourist attractions what message does that send to potential tourists?

The sad thing is it is a few bad apples that continue to give Thailand a black eye year after year after year and no matter who is in power they continue to operate with impunity.

Shame on TAT for not addressing these scam issues.

"Grand palace is closed today."

"I have tuk tuk, you pay only 10 Baht for gasoline, i will drive you around for one hour"

"I know government shop, have today half price for all diamonds"

"This is my friend he have tailor shop, cheap cheap"

"Look, that is the best seefood restaurant in Bangkok"

" You like lady?"

"Hello, Welcome, You pay now, thank you, bye bye"

[Thian]

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

I guess TAT doesn't have or know how to use google. If they google grand palace gem scam they will only get page after page after page of tourists telling how they were ripped off at one of the most revered tourist sites in all thailand...The Grand Palace. Then google jet ski or taxi mafia scams and get a few zillion more stories of tourists being ripped off, beaten up or worse right in front of the cameras.

But heck it's only been going on for a few decades so how would the TAT know?

IF IF they wanted to shut these black eye scams down it might take about one hour to identify the scammers......when you allow scams to go on for decades at your TOP tourist attractions what message does that send to potential tourists?

The sad thing is it is a few bad apples that continue to give Thailand a black eye year after year after year and no matter who is in power they continue to operate with impunity.

Shame on TAT for not addressing these scam issues.

"Grand palace is closed today."
"I have tuk tuk, you pay only 10 Baht for gasoline, i will drive you around for one hour"
"I know government shop, have today half price for all diamonds"
"This is my friend he have tailor shop, cheap cheap"
"Look, that is the best seefood restaurant in Bangkok"
" You like lady?"
"Hello, Welcome, You pay now, thank you, bye bye"

Yup they do that in Thailand but also in almost all other Asian country's. Nevertheless it should be stopped or tourists won't come anymore.

But for the coming years the biggest problem is that Thailand is far too expensive for what they deliver. I expect western standards for western prices and i sure don't get that in Thailand.

Next to the price we need reliable police, safety, professionalism in hotels/restaurants/beaches and it just is not here.

[Jeremy50]

Choosing between a country with pristine and diverse natural beauty such as France or South Africa, and a garbage embellished wildlife depleted, noisy dust-bowl like Thailand should really be a no-brainer.

[gerry1011]

A piece of news and the bitter thaivisa posters are out in force... with 100% negative posts, as usual.

How depressing.

Well, even if I am not involved in the tourism industry, I was at that conference.

First, it was an initiative of PATA and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (of the present interim government, as the minister pointed out). It was not an initiative of TAT, which posters here quickly assumed.

The participants were coming from all possible horizons (China, ASEAN, India, Thailand, Australia, Europe, ...) and all industries related to tourism. Quite interesting people, by the way.

Second, there was a very positive atmosphere, with participants bringing constructive suggestions for improvement in the future, and solutions to present situations. It was a kind of large scale brainstorming session. Very interesting.

A very sharp contrast to the depressing posts that we can read on this forum.

The shortfalls of Thailand were also mentioned and solutions were suggested by the participants.

The main shortfalls were: Cleanliness, safety, urban development, road infrastructure, parking convenience, etc...

Another point that was mentioned was of course the "sex tourism and sex Industry" phenomenon... which the present interim government does not seem to be totally happy with and would not mind to replace with another type of more positive image (many posters on here surely won't agree with this particular one).

The goal of this conference was to help the present administration to set a clear road map for the next government to work on.

gerry1011, Thankyou for your stereotyping of a typical forum poster here on TV. We all appreciate your image of us expats living over here. The view points of Westerners living in Thailand are an important part of the Thai Tourist Industry. My friends and family visit Thailand every year, they love the country as much as me and tell there friends to visit Thailand too. Word of mouth is an important part of advertising. We are not all sex perverts and criminals on the run. Most consider Thailand as a second home and just like the Thai people have pride in the country the recide in. I myself have in a way started to turn into a Thai if not by nationality then by speaking Thai alot, having alot of Thai friends and enjoying the community spirit. The expat that hates Thailand is false. He's just having a bad day.

The negative image expats posting on this forum, reflects the constant negative posts, posted by the same expats, I guess.

I would love to believe that posters post such negative comments only because they have a bad day. But I doubt very much that this is the reason.

Unfortunately, the trend on this forum is just to criticize and be negative (sometimes insulting) towards the local society. To the point where, regularly, other "normal posters" wonder, and sometimes ask, if all these bitter farangs are happy in Thailand or should better go to find another place more suitable for their needs and requirements.

On the other hand, I really appreciate to read that you love this country, assimilate in the local society and speak Thai. Very good. Those who speak Thai and have many Thai friends end up much happier in their life, and much less prone to constantly complaining and ranting on this forum.

In fact, HE Kobkarn, the minister of tourism and sports also included the "expats" in the important groups of foreigners (after the Chinese, Malaysian and Russians, families, wedding and medical tourists), of which the concerns should be addressed.

I was pleased, being myself a foreigner in Thailand (speaking, reading and writing Thai, and with friends mostly within the Thai society), that the concerns of the expats should be addressed.

Compares to the interesting points which were addressed in that conference, in a positive atmosphere, what is more disturbing is the constant negative comments coming from posters of this forum. Totally depressing, useless, not constructive at all,... which is obvious just by reading this particular thread.

If so many thaivisa posters allow themselves to stereotype Thais, Chinese or Russians, nobody should be shocked that the bitter, negative and Thai bashing posters are stereotyped in return... even if this goes against the thaivisa "trend".

[geisha]

I met a lovely French couple a few weeks back. The lady said she'd enjoyed her stay but would never come back due to the blatant in your face prostitution. She said that she didn't want to " approve" all she had seen by coming here on her holidays. Another couple said that Thailand was too dirty, and they noticed that the staff of hotels, restaurants, bus drivers/taxis etc had disgusting habits, when I asked what they meant they said the constant " picking their faces" put them off ! Now I can't say they were wrong, because it's true. I travel a lot around the region, and I think that something has to be done to educate the kids/ youths. They are simply not educated, not from school or home. The lack of English is also holding Thailand back. I was recently in a very nice 4 star hotel where practically no one could speak English, from reception, where in the end I had to use my iPad Thai language to explain a simple air con problem, to the waiters/ waitresses where not one could advise me about the items on the menu ! How on earth can Thailand compete with these serious problems?