Business closures of companies related to tourism have doubled as a result of Covid-19, says Mazars Group, a French-based international tax, audit and advisory firm.
Mr Hurenkamp urges companies in the tourism and service industries to find new opportunities through virtual communication in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Chatchawat Kriengsuntikul, a legal partner at Mazars Group, said the company made the assessment because of the sharp increase in demand for accounting jobs, financial reports auditors and legal consultants related to business closures.
Mazars managing partner Rob Hurenkamp said that based on the situation in Europe, where many countries are undergoing a second wave of coronavirus outbreaks, businesses are being hit extremely hard. Others, like the Zoom video conferencing platform, are reaping the benefits from people being stuck in their homes and needing new ways to communicate.
For Thailand, there are great opportunities for the manufacturing and food industries to supply products, as opposed to China, because many companies are seeking to diversify their supply chains away from the latter country after it closed down factories earlier in the year to fight the pandemic.
Thailand and neighbouring countries are more reliable with quality products and strategic logistics, Mr Hurenkamp said.
He said the number of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals before and after Covid-19 has not changed too much. Even so, some deals have been delayed because of the effect of the pandemic on profits, revenues and overall market value.
Some companies decided to delay deals to reduce the impact from declining company value until the situation returns to normal.
During this challenging time, Mr Hurenkamp said cash is king and businesses must set priorities to focus on urgent needs first and plan restructuring later.
For Mazars as an auditing company, he said compliance and good financial reporting are key under a bad economy in order to provide accurate assessments and forecasts amid tremendous market uncertainty.
He said the compliance business will be a key driver of growth for Mazars in Asia, including Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and mainland China.
"Having accuracy and reliable financial reporting can help companies reach financial sources of funds with lower cost, especially in this difficult time," Mr Chatchawat said.
At present, 75% of Mazars's total revenue in Thailand comes from the compliance business. Globally, however, revenue from consulting is growing faster than from compliance.
The company aims to be the fifth-largest auditing firm in Thailand within the next four years, up from sixth or seventh currently, driven by its compliance business and expertise in public interest entities.
Mazars was founded in France in 1945 and expanded outward into Europe in 1980 and internationally in 2005. In 2008, the company expanded into Thailand through an M&A deal.
Today the company has more than 600 customers in Thailand, including three SET-listed companies and one insurance firm.