Most inbound tour groups cancel city trips

“We still have many provinces that are safe and can be visited, but there is zero information about that. The government tells only the bad news that makes tourists afraid to come,” Sisdivachr Chevaratanaporn, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), said yesterday.
The association met to conduct a survey on the impact on inbound tourism and found that travel agencies in overseas markets such as Japan and China had dropped trips booked for Bangkok this month.
Travel firms decided not to bring groups to Thailand after hearing Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and officials on television warn that Bangkok was at high risk of inundation. Authorities are also preparing to evacuate Bangkok residents to dry provinces.
Bangkok features prominently in daily reports that the flood is likely to spread and the situation may be out of control.
Thai tourism has suffered huge damage, with thousands of people deciding not to come.
Almost 100 per cent of tourists from China have opted out of trips planned for Bangkok this month.
Tourists from other countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia have also suspended their travel plans.
Anake Srishevachart, president of the Thai-Japan Tourism Business Association, said the Japanese were afraid to visit Bangkok as well as other destinations. The government’s announcements on the flood crisis were the turning point that drove tourists away.
Thai Sin Express Co, one of the key inbound tour operators serving the Japanese market, said it witnessed a 100-per-cent cancellation rate this month, or about 30 groups.
Last month, more than 90 per cent of advanced bookings were pulled.
The ATTA urged the government to help rebuild inbound tourism as fast as possible after the flood crisis runs its course.
The Tourism Ministry also met with the private sector to discuss short- and long-term development strategies. Affected operators want help from the ministry in the form of financial assistance and tax breaks.