Thai tourism will not see dramatic growth for years to come as demand slows from major markets and negative factors abound, says an executive from Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
"All stakeholders, both government agencies and the private sector, must be prepared for slower or stagnant growth in many targeted markets, especially Europeans who were hit hard by the economic crisis," said Srisuda Wanapinyosak, deputy governor of TAT for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas.
Unofficial figures for 2019 show the European market decreased by 1%, attributed to Brexit uncertainty and the Scandinavian market plunging, in part because of the Swedish krona's weakness against the baht.
The Swedish krona fell to the lowest level in 16 years to 3.05 baht per krona from five baht, and remains at about 3.2 baht per krona.
"Last year was the first time since 1923 that the UK's general election was held in December. Combined with a warmer climate that lingered, holidaymakers chose to stay at home on the continent rather than take a long-haul trip," said Mrs Srisuda.
The overall number of outbound British travellers was down by 2.5%.
She said the TAT still has to monitor the UK's plans to leave the EU on Jan 31.
GDP growth in other European countries remained weak last year. Italy and Germany -- big contributors to Thai tourism -- grew at 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively.
These challenges resulted in TAT offices in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas to have an additional meetings on Germany.
The regional offices will sum up marketing solutions to cope with negative factors.
The TAT is set to pivot at an internal meeting on Feb 5 to revise tourism strategies and the budget allocation of each market, aiming to maintain tourism growth amid economic fluctuations.
"With the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, investment there would be fruitless," said Mrs Srisuda.
"Now is the time to reconsider budget allocation and find the right partner in each location to funnel visitors to Thailand."
She said Thailand is still perceived as a cheap mass market destination for European visitors.
This image has become a problem as there is aggressive competition from more luxe destinations that are also more affordable.
The Maldives and Japan are offering cheaper packages, especially Japan, the host of the Olympic Games this year, and both countries have infrastructure for tourists prepared.
Vietnam is attracting new tourism investment from South Korea and Russia. The country's main attraction is that prices are 20-30% cheaper than Thailand, said Mrs Srisuda.
"We have to continue working on promoting new tourism products and new segments to rebrand our image," she said.
Second-tier provinces such as Nan, Chiang Rai, Phrae and Satun have become popular among European visitors recently.
Opportunities in other markets such as Russia and Eastern Europe, which includes Poland, as well as the US remain unexploited, said Mrs Srisuda.
She said the Russia-based tour operator Pegas Touristik has 90 chartered flights with about 40,000 seats from four cities in Russia, (Moscow, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk and Khabarovsk) to Surat Thani airport from December 2019 until October this year.
Chartered flights from Russia will help disperse the flow of tourists from famous beach sites such as Koh Samui to other destinations, including Khao Sok National Park and Khanom district.
This year Thailand is set to welcome 40.8 million international tourist arrivals, up by 2.5%, projected to generate 2.02 trillion baht in tourism income, a 3% rise.
