Advice for tourism operators

The department has suggested medical and agricultural tourism as fields where Thai operators could draw in foreigners. Operators should consider new activities and events to lure visitors, the department said.
Meanwhile, it urged the government to provide financial support to entrepreneurs and also persuade local people to take higher management levels.
Banchongchit Ungsusin, director of trade and investment of the department, called on tourism operators to concentrate and prepare strategies to deal with counterparts from other nations, not only for business expansion but also for investment.
Before the AEC comes into effect in 2015, the government has been urged to upgrade infrastructure and improve the proficiency of locals in foreign languages as well as renovate attractions.
Thanit Sorat, vice president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, said many investors from China would move to the region and invest in hotels and the tourism sector.
Chinese investors have a lot of money and are ready to expand their businesses outside, and Asean would be their main target, Thanit said. This will serve Chinese tourists in Thailand, whose numbers are expected to exceed 1.5 million this year.
The department thinks local operators will suffer a negative impact due to shortage of funds.
According to a study by the Office of Small and Medium Enterprise Promotion (Osmep), 65 million people travelled to the Asean region last year. Of that number, 30 million, or 47 per cent, were intra-region travellers, followed by travellers from Europe, China, Japan, Australia and India.
Malaysia received the most visitors, followed by Thailand, Singapore and Indonesia.
While tourist arrivals have been growing gradually, only three countries – Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia – achieved domestic-travel growth, while all others gained benefit mainly from inbound visitors.
Osmep reported that tourism in Cambodia had been growing very fast in terms of number of arrivals and income. About 32 per cent of visitors are from Asean, followed by East Asia and Europe.
Indonesia is the biggest country in the region, but gained only 6.2 million tourists in 2009, its major markets being Singapore and Malaysia.
In the same year, Laos received 2 million tourists and more than 80 per cent from the region.
Malaysia saw the most arrivals at 23 million in 2009. About 77 per cent of tourists were from the region, and 53 per cent from Singapore.
The Philippines is getting 3 million tourists a year. The tourism sector is driven by local people. Singapore saw 10 million visitors a year, with 70 per cent from Asean.
Vietnam received only 5 million tourists last year, but the country is the most active in tourism development in the region.