Help plea as zero-dollar crackdown hurts

Help plea as zero-dollar crackdown hurts

A Chinese tourist has her photo taken with soldiers at the Grand Palace. The government clampdown on zero-dollar tours has led to a sharp drop in Chinese arrivals. PATIPAT JANTHONG
A Chinese tourist has her photo taken with soldiers at the Grand Palace. The government clampdown on zero-dollar tours has led to a sharp drop in Chinese arrivals. PATIPAT JANTHONG

Thai and Chinese business operators will ask the government to help the tourism business that has been hit by the recent crackdown on zero-dollar tours and the sharp drop in Chinese visitors.

Representatives from the Thai Hotels Association and the Thai-Chinese Business Association will meet this week to discuss the problems caused by the zero-dollar tour issue.

They plan to submit a formal letter to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, requesting immediate help for the industry.

"Our businesses from hotels, tour agents and tour guides to souvenir shops have been hurt by the zero-dollar tour crackdown since late September. The number of Chinese tourists has fallen by 60% so far," a source said.

This indicates that the government's approach to solving the zero-dollar tour problem is not right. After the crackdown, many Chinese tourists are uncertain about visiting Thailand, causing estimated tourism losses of up to 10 billion baht.

The source said while Thailand is experiencing a decline in Chinese tourists, Malaysia, Vietnam and Indonesia are welcoming more tourists from China.

China's tourist market has a lot of potential with 100 million Chinese people travelling abroad every year and many countries want to lure them to visit their destinations.

According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Chinese tourists are very important as they represent 30% of total foreign tourist arrivals. Last year, Thailand welcomed nearly 30 million foreign tourists and the figure is expected to increase to 33.8 million this year.

Meanwhile, Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said Chinese tour agents understood the government's clampdown on zero-dollar tours was essential to improving Thailand's tourism image.

The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) is still confident that the number of Chinese tourist arrivals will improve next year after the government has been pressuring tour agents to offer legal tour packages to Chinese travellers.

ATTA president Charoen Wangananont said he was not worried about the decline in Chinese tourist arrivals after the zero-dollar tour crackdown in late September, saying that its impact would be short-lived.

He admitted that Chinese tourist arrivals have dipped by more than half after the crackdown but the ministry is working closely with related agencies and tourism associations to improve the situation.

"The declining number of Chinese tourists is not solely due to the zero-dollar tour crackdown but from the other factors such as the weak Chinese economy and the mourning atmosphere after the passing of His Majesty the King that has made many festivals less lively and fun," Mr Charoen said.

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