Chinese elevate to status of ‘quality tourists’

[sanuk711]

well Thailand have just confirmed that money is more important than anything else in Thailand, you can rob, shoot, kill, steal, destroy but as long as you spend lots of money you are considered the best tourist possible, shows exactly the mentality of those in charge

Rob ---shoot, kill and steal...........are we talking about the Chinese tourist here.??

Or the Farangs..................................

[Thailand]

Quality tourist preparing for her shopping spree.................nosepicking.jpg

w

The Chinese version of the 3 fingered salute.

[coulson]

Here's a little question for the TVF members: In all of your visits to Thailand, have you ever been subjected to a survey or questionnaire regarding your spending during your stay?

I have never divulged this information, and I have never heard of it being collected.

This begs the question of how the Tourism Ministry makes up determines these average tourist spending figures, by country of origin.

Seriously phoenixdoglover .... does your brain really go into overload trying to work this out ??........amazing.

I will try to explain part of it---but it just may prove to be just to Technical to take in....its done by all governments in several ways

1/

When Yuan gets exchanged into baht in Thailand.......they assume its from the Chinese

When Tugrik gets exchanged into baht---they just jump to the conclusion That its a tourist from Mongolia doing it.

And so on & so forth.

2/

Credit card companies publish their spending trends every 3 months---X amount is being spent by Germans in these destinations-----you can Google it. Marketing companies always pay close attention to what is being spent where.

3/

Each countries banks buy in certain amounts of foreign currency for their customers to exchange. If there buying in more of a certain currency then.................

There are also a few other ways------but these do not need to concern you, because you have a hotline to the real source of info, ---The guy on the bar stool next to you---and your both in agreement that all this sort of stuff is just one big plot by the Thai government ...........now.....who's round is it.............

You can determine some ball park but there are many holes in these figures as Thailand has, as you even point out, a slightly more colourful tourism demographic to any other Country in the world.

How do you determine monies being withdrawn by 'tourists' from local bank accounts? Or decipher that a Singaporean credit card was actually not being used by a Singaporean? How about the 7.5 million ex-pats in UAE, do all their dirhams spent in Thailand end up representing expenditure of the actual 1.5 million Emirate citizens?

Just curious how they fill the grey areas, particularly when dropping a Country like Singapore into the mix of highest spenders.

[heybruce]

Here's a little question for the TVF members: In all of your visits to Thailand, have you ever been subjected to a survey or questionnaire regarding your spending during your stay?

I have never divulged this information, and I have never heard of it being collected.

This begs the question of how the Tourism Ministry makes up determines these average tourist spending figures, by country of origin.

Seriously phoenixdoglover .... does your brain really go into overload trying to work this out ??........amazing.

I will try to explain part of it---but it just may prove to be just to Technical to take in....its done by all governments in several ways

1/

When Yuan gets exchanged into baht in Thailand.......they assume its from the Chinese

When Tugrik gets exchanged into baht---they just jump to the conclusion That its a tourist from Mongolia doing it.

And so on & so forth.

2/

Credit card companies publish their spending trends every 3 months---X amount is being spent by Germans in these destinations-----you can Google it. Marketing companies always pay close attention to what is being spent where.

3/

Each countries banks buy in certain amounts of foreign currency for their customers to exchange. If there buying in more of a certain currency then.................

There are also a few other ways------but these do not need to concern you, because you have a hotline to the real source of info, ---The guy on the bar stool next to you---and your both in agreement that all this sort of stuff is just one big plot by the Thai government ...........now.....who's round is it.............

"When Yuan gets exchanged into baht in Thailand.......they assume its from the Chinese"

So the Chinese who are trying to transfer money out of China by purchasing condos, or anything else, in Thailand count towards these quality tourists?

[zydeco]

What is it that makes people so uptight about these facts ? --and they are facts.

They are the same facts reported by other governments all around the world.

These are the very latest figures just released 15/4/2015---The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) just released new data on tourist spending in 2014. Last year international tourism generated over $1,245 billion around the world. Tourism is obviously a huge moneymaker for countries that are top travel destinations, but some tourists spend more than others.

Unsurprisingly, Chinese people spent the most when traveling abroad, spending a total of $165 billion in 2014....1/

Unsurprisingly it would seem to everyone but the farang bar experts who see it all as a great plot by Thailand Gov-- but their not going to be fooled by it all----they haven't seen one Chinese guy buy a bar girl a house---so how can it be correct. I guess the United nations are also in on this plot.........

http://www.businessinsider.com/tourists-from-these-countries-spend-the-most-when-traveling-abroad-2015-4

Why are YOU getting so agitated? If Thailand thinks it is better to replace Western tourists with Chinese ones, I don't think anyone will object. It's Thailand's sovereign right to determine exactly who they would rather cater to--especially if they want to give special enticements to Chinese over Westerners. Just as it may very soon be the sovereign right of the US and the EU to pull the plug on Thai exports to their regions and instead entice other countries better suited to their markets and economic culture. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

[ehs818]

Quality tourists? Really! I'm still laughing with amazement at one of those 'quality tourists' who took a dump in the moat in Chiang Mai at New Years, making it necessary to drain a section of all of its water! Quality indeed!! HAHA........

[shirtless]

Lets face it we westerners are no longer quality tourist we dont spend as much as the Chinese, we are fewer in number so we no longer count with TAT, I hope it all works out for Thailand ,

[coulson]

Why are YOU getting so agitated? If Thailand thinks it is better to replace Western tourists with Chinese ones, I don't think anyone will object. It's Thailand's sovereign right to determine exactly who they would rather cater to--especially if they want to give special enticements to Chinese over Westerners. Just as it may very soon be the sovereign right of the US and the EU to pull the plug on Thai exports to their regions and instead entice other countries better suited to their markets and economic culture. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

I think it's understandable to expect certain 'tourists' (you know, the ones with grandchildren, properties they actually live in, savings earned in other countries being spent daily) to get a little agitated at having to read about TAT praising the Chinese tourists for their monetary contributions to the Country.

[zydeco]

Why are YOU getting so agitated? If Thailand thinks it is better to replace Western tourists with Chinese ones, I don't think anyone will object. It's Thailand's sovereign right to determine exactly who they would rather cater to--especially if they want to give special enticements to Chinese over Westerners. Just as it may very soon be the sovereign right of the US and the EU to pull the plug on Thai exports to their regions and instead entice other countries better suited to their markets and economic culture. That's the way the cookie crumbles.

I think it's understandable to expect certain 'tourists' (you know, the ones with grandchildren, properties they actually live in, savings earned in other countries being spent daily) to get a little agitated at having to read about TAT praising the Chinese tourists for their monetary contributions to the Country.

Actually, I think this is a short term phenomenon driven by political and economic desperation. There is already another topic running about the Chinese sending poison eggs and rice into Thailand (were they in on the rice scam?). Their Thai train project will be a massively corrupt boondoggle that squeezes every benefit and imposes every burden on Thailand (just like the school tablet scam a few years ago). Then, you have the Chinese tourists themselves. They are the least loved tourists in Thailand and on the face of the earth. And what happens when the Chinese economy crawls over to the side of the road and leaves four paws in the air?

Edited May 28, 2015 by zydeco

[mikemac]

Here's a little question for the TVF members: In all of your visits to Thailand, have you ever been subjected to a survey or questionnaire regarding your spending during your stay?

I have never divulged this information, and I have never heard of it being collected.

This begs the question of how the Tourism Ministry makes up determines these average tourist spending figures, by country of origin.

Seriously phoenixdoglover .... does your brain really go into overload trying to work this out ??........amazing.

I will try to explain part of it---but it just may prove to be just to Technical to take in....its done by all governments in several ways

1/

When Yuan gets exchanged into baht in Thailand.......they assume its from the Chinese

When Tugrik gets exchanged into baht---they just jump to the conclusion That its a tourist from Mongolia doing it.

And so on & so forth.

2/

Credit card companies publish their spending trends every 3 months---X amount is being spent by Germans in these destinations-----you can Google it. Marketing companies always pay close attention to what is being spent where.

3/

Each countries banks buy in certain amounts of foreign currency for their customers to exchange. If there buying in more of a certain currency then.................

There are also a few other ways------but these do not need to concern you, because you have a hotline to the real source of info, ---The guy on the bar stool next to you---and your both in agreement that all this sort of stuff is just one big plot by the Thai government ...........now.....who's round is it.............

If you are trying to come across as a nasty, arrogant t**t, mission accomplished !

[oneday]

Quality = how much money you spend.

Only in Thailand.

[hawker9000]

Buahahahahah!

[JimHuaHin]

If the Chinese are now 'quality' tourists, then there must have been a substantial decline in overall quality.

Thus, the quality of foreign tourists in Thailand, like the quality of Thailand's education system, as measured by international standards, is in decline.

Yesterday's 'undesireable' is now the new 'quality'.

[Fullstop]

I had a nightmare where tourists were required to report to immigration everyday with receipts for money they have spent. If the total didn't reach the required amount ... you were deported as a "low quality tourist".

I hope I haven't given them any ideas.

[sambum]

“From January to April, they generated income of Bt122.71 billion of income for Thailand, which was an increase of 110 per cent from the same period of last year.”

"She said about 2.69 Chinese tourists visited Thailand in the first quarter"

By my calculations, that works out at 45.6 billion baht each! No wonder they are now classed as "Quality Tourists"!

[ebonykap]

"She said about 2.69 Chinese tourists visited Thailand in the first quarter....."

I wonder about the 0.69 tourist....missing an arm, leg, brain perhaps??

[soalbundy]

Could they somehow get these figures from electronically processing information from ATM withdrawals and come up with an average daily amount spent depending on total amount withdrawn, length of stay, from which bank in which country the money was withdrawn ? I don't know if this is even possible but who knows

[English 1]

Oh so quality is measured by spending power? !

What about the fact that Chinese tourists are...

Ill mannered, push in front, noisy, pick their nose and are uncouth!

[soalbundy]

Quality tourists? Really! I'm still laughing with amazement at one of those 'quality tourists' who took a dump in the moat in Chiang Mai at New Years, making it necessary to drain a section of all of its water! Quality indeed!! HAHA........

I don't think such behaviour is limited to the Chinese only, not long ago a picture was shown in a British newspaper of a quality Caucasian woman, no doubt British, taking a dump on the pavement at night outside a pub in UK, nothing about the behaviour of my younger countrymen surprises me.

Edited May 28, 2015 by soalbundy

[stoli]

Guess no surprise that tourism minister's definition of 'quality' tourist is how much they spend.

I would imagine that every Tourism Minister in the world would define a "quality tourist" as one that spends money. How would you do it? Height, weight, smile?

[lostoday]

Yup

The Chinese overtook Americans and Germans as the world's top-spending tourists in 2013, according to the World Tourism Organisation, an agency of the United Nations

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1671504/rude-awakening-chinese-tourists-have-means-not-manners?page=all

Chinese Tourists Shun Hong Kong, Macau; Flood Into Korea, Thailand, Japan

http://blogs.barrons.com/asiastocks/2015/02/26/chinese-tourists-shun-hong-kong-macau-flood-into-korea-thailand-japan/

In Hong Kong and Macau they make fun of the mainland Chinese them locusts and other terrible names.

I also think they have to bring in the gold to pay for the land that their Chinese/Thai families are buying because

the shadow banking in China has slowed so much.

[zydeco]

Oh so quality is measured by spending power? !

What about the fact that Chinese tourists are...

Ill mannered, push in front, noisy, pick their nose and are uncouth!

Just a couple of days ago, a large group pushed their way into the BTS when it was already full, all the time shouting "Nanaaaa! Nanaaaa! Nanaaa!" It went on continually until they got to the destination, which fortunately was only three stations away.

[soalbundy]

well Thailand have just confirmed that money is more important than anything else in Thailand, you can rob, shoot, kill, steal, destroy but as long as you spend lots of money you are considered the best tourist possible, shows exactly the mentality of those in charge

People who spend lots of money are welcome everywhere, there are drives in many countries in Europe,including the UK, to get more Chinese tourists, money really does make the world go round or at the very least it keeps you well fed.

[stoli]

Guess no surprise that tourism minister's definition of 'quality' tourist is how much they spend.

I would imagine that every Tourism Minister in the world would define a "quality tourist" as one that spends money. How would you do it? Height, weight, smile?

[Tywais]

Guess no surprise that tourism minister's definition of 'quality' tourist is how much they spend.

I would imagine that every Tourism Minister in the world would define a "quality tourist" as one that spends money. How would you do it? Height, weight, smile?

In this case manners would be one yardstick.

[Ulic]

The problem I have with this is would you rather have an ex-pat who spends 800k+ a year, buys or

rents a place and is here through high and low seasons, corruption and political upheaval spending

just over 2k a day average or would you rather have a Chinese tourist who come in for an average

4 days, spends 25 k total, is fickle, not coming when the political upheaval rumbles through Thailand

which it does with regularity. Even the sex-pats, coming in for an average 3 week stay spending

10k baht a day for an average 200k cash infusion into the Thai economy are more valuable tourists.

I don't know but if the Thai government were on the ball they would give a lot more love to the ex-pats.

[English 1]

So Quality is only defined by money?

What about the fact that they.....

Will not queue but push to the front, are ill mannered, aggressive, pick their nose, noisy and have no consideration.

Horrible people and the Honk Kong Chinese would agree!

[Bung]

Please! I call on all farang to join together and help us regain our status as "quality tourists" by running off to the big malls and spend as much as you can. It also helps the majority of average thai people earn money by doing this not just the big corporations and your wives and girlfriends will love you even more! Win win.

[sambum]

Guess no surprise that tourism minister's definition of 'quality' tourist is how much they spend.

I would imagine that every Tourism Minister in the world would define a "quality tourist" as one that spends money. How would you do it? Height, weight, smile?

In this case manners would be one yardstick.

Nah - definitely money! Which would a Tourist Minister prefer? An obnoxious, uncouth, ill mannered, smelly, noisy, rude, arrogant t**t (anybody spring to mind?) tourist who spends lots of money, or a well mannered, polite, well washed, gentile soul who is friendly to everyone who crosses their path who has a little disposable cash to spend on the non-essentials of life (me,me,me!) Sorry - manners come a poor second to cold hard cash!

[DM07]