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Headline: Sustaining the momentumThe numbers look impressive, but to continue amazing visitors, Thailand must stress safety and a clean environment PEERAWAT JARIYASOMBAT
With economic recovery in many parts of the world including Thailand, the local tourism industry is seeing improvement across the board in inbound, outbound and domestic travel. Inbound tourist traffic in the first quarter built on last year's double-digit momentum, with the recovery of medium- and long-haul markets from Europe, Australia and New Zealand, the Middle East and North America. The main driver of growth, though, is the steady recovery in Asia, with people in many countries travelling again and demand from China surging. Domestic and outbound tourism have not been growing as rapidly, with some cautious consumers still uncertain about the viability of the recovery. "The situation in the tourism industry has been quite good in the first half of this year, building on the heavy momentum of the two-year Amazing Thailand campaign," said Suwat Jutakorn, director of statistics at the Tourism Authority of Thailand, "There is a very good sign that Thailand is likely to achieve 4.5 million foreign tourist arrivals in the first six months of 2000."
"In April alone, tourist traffic grew by more than 20% without any very special events," Mr Suwat said. "We are trying to find out what caused this surprising growth. "The remaining 1.2 million tourists is quite achievable [to reach the first-half goal of 4.5 million], as in May and June 1999 Thailand welcomed 1.1 million tourists. Right now, we are waiting for the end of Euro 2000 which may have kept many European tourists home in June." Arrivals from the East Asian market, after two slow years, are recovering gradually, with growth of 9.63% to 1.4 million tourists in the first quarter. Major visitor sources such as Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong delivered good results, as did Japan, the biggest single market for Thailand. "The Taiwanese market, which has been quiet for years, is also coming back," Mr Suwat said, forecasting 600,000 Taiwanese arrivals compared with 500,000 last year and a low of 400,000 earlier. In South Asia, India and Pakistan have shown impressive growth of 19.4% and 29.3% respectively, a good sign for the TAT which has been trying to open these high-potential markets for years. European arrivals continue to rise, though at a lower rate. Figures were distorted earlier in the year as some travellers put off holidays because of Y2K concerns. Strong economies in most of Europe have resulted in increasing outbound tourist traffic, particularly among young travellers and families. Even Russians, among the star performers for Thailand in recent years, are holding their own despite their country's shaky economy. Scandinavia, with more direct flights now available to Thailand, has the TAT feeling particularly bullish. "Thailand as a destination has a quite positive perception in the European market. The calm situation in the kingdom helps differentiate Thailand from neighbouring countries. So Thailand is the only choice of beach destinations for them in this region.," Mr Suwat said. Although Thailand could take advantage of existing circumstances, he said, the local industry needed to be aware that neighbouring countries were fighting back with deep discounts to lure European tourists back. The United States and Canada have also surprised tourism planners with further double-digit growth. Although the volume of tourists from Canada is low, it is growing by 20% due to the country's booming economy.
Thailand had built a strong image as a safe destination offering good value for money, said Patpong Abhijatapong, the TAT deputy governor for marketing. "Safety is the most efficient tool Thailand is using now," he said. "As well, attractive prices due to the cheap baht remain a strong magnet." The TAT was confident of achieving its target of 9.1 million foreign tourist arrivals this year, he said. Hoteliers have been seeing signs of improvement, agreed Prakit Chinamornphong, secretary-general of the Thai Hotels Association (THA). He said both occupancy rates and room rates were creeping up after years of oversupply-induced stagnation. In the first five months of this year, according to a THA survey covering 39 hotels in the capital, the average occupancy rate rose to 69.4% from 62.8% in the same period last year. The average room rate increased to 2,240 baht from 2,200. "Thirteen hotels reported a worse performance while the other 26 had some improvement," Mr Prakit said. "I think this year things will get better although the economy remains uncertain." Hotels in Pattaya and Chiang Mai also have seen improvements, according to the THA, while the situation in Phuket remains unchanged _ sold out in the high season. Vithavat Putraserani, corporate director of domestic marketing with the 10-member Imperial Hotels Group, said the group's average occupancy rate had increased by nine points to 70%.
flagship Imperial Queen's Park has maintained an occupancy rate of 50% for its 1,400 rooms. "The overall situation has improved slightly," said Mr Vithavat. "I think the local market has increased by almost 10% for the Imperial Group. Meeting and incentive customers are coming back after long absence since the crisis began. "While the economy has not clearly recovered yet, Thai tourists indeed have purchasing power with demand to take trips and relax. So more and more people have switched from overseas trips to select local venues instead." Five years ago, most hotels in Bangkok were struggling with occupancy rates below 50%. The return of business travellers is helping the revival, and hoteliers are seeing changes in guest behaviour as well. "Businesses planning meetings book the venue so late that we can no longer predict the market trend and fill up rooms long in advance as in the past," said an executive with the five-star Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel. "Normally each meeting group books a venue and rooms months in advance, now the organisers do this in less than three months."
"Some emergency [meeting] bookings are being made just seven day in advance. More and more last-minute bookings as well as cancellations are coming up. Anyway, this is better than having no guests." While inbound tourism shows signs of improvement, there have been no strong signs of growth in Thai outbound tourist traffic since a sudden spurt in the middle of last year. Some outbound tour operators enjoyed good sales during the school holiday period in April, but said the market had gone silent again. "In March and April, my company had 30% more customers for outbound trips compared with the same period last year. But after that, increasing fuel prices and the uncertain economy drove them to stay home again," said Sanchai Phetaratana, managing director of Far East Air Trans Service and Tours Co. He noted, however, that more Thai tourists were choosing long-haul destinations again, including Italy, Switzerland, France, the UK, Australia and New Zealand. But shopping no longer seemed to be their main motivation, he said. Woodichai Makwong, marketing director of N.S. Travel & Tour Co, a leading domestic and outbound tour operator, agreed that outbound business was unchanged as the economic trend remained unclear. Domestic tourism was similarly sluggish in the first half. "Normally tourist traffic recovers three to six months after the economic recovery, but there is still no sign of a real economic recovery," he said. Consequently, he said, the only way to attract price-conscious travellers was to accept lower profits and offer big discounts. |
The Imperial Samui and Imperial Boathouse were steady at 90%. The rate at the Imperial Lake View in Cha-am rose eight points to 70%. The Imperial Phukaew Hill Resort in Phetchabun, which sells 80% of its rooms in the high season, is looking forward to solid results in the low season now that the province has a new airport. In Bangkok, the
The executive said improved communication technology, notably the Internet, was one factor working in meeting planners' favour, allowing them to organise big events with shorter lead times.© Copyright The Post Publishing Public Co., Ltd. 2000
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