Thailand shaking off tourism crisis

North Asian markets are powering the recovery, with renewed confidence among Abacus travel agents in Seoul generating a 67-per-cent spike in air bookings for Phuket in the second quarter. Seoul-to-Bangkok reservations were also up 19 per cent on the same period last year.

Shanghai and Hong Kong travellers have also reportedly taken a more positive stance on the Land of Smiles. The decline in Taipei’s flight reservations for Thailand has also slowed dramatically and should turn around soon, the analysts say.

“Political unrest is not new to this market and our [Thailand’s] reputation for exceptional hospitality is working in our favour, with the caution post-coup giving way to more practical concerns over accommodation and exchange rates,” said Steven Ong, general manager for Abacus in Thailand. “Thailand could now be through the worst.”

The analysis is supported with statistics from traveller data intelligence specialist ForwardKeys.com, which documented a catastrophic 79-per-cent drop in bookings from within the Asia-Pacific region in the week of the May 22 coup – along with the corollary of a 33-per-cent increase in outbound bookings. 

Phuket bookings from May 22 to June 16 fell by 13 per cent and to Bangkok by 42 per cent. However, as early as the week of June 10, China’s bookings for arrivals in September were up by a factor of 6 when compared with same period in 2013. China was in effect leading the regional recovery. “Teflon Thailand always rebounds,” said Olivier Jager, chief executive of Forward Keys. “Thailand’s amazing ability to recover quickly is once again materialising, with North Asia’s strong performance.”

Issued bookings for future arrivals in Thailand from the Asia-Pacific area may not be reaching 2013 values yet, but drops are not as deep. Those for October gave the most optimistic values, down 1.4 per cent from the same month last year.

For arrivals between October and December, bookings from the main feeder of mainland China saw a moderate average 8.6-per-cent increase, with Hong Kong at 0.3 per cent, though Japan is down 31 per cent.

Looking ahead, Abacus expects to see inbound booking volumes lift “between 8 and 15 per cent in aggregate for business as well as leisure travel – assuming confidence from regional markets continues to rise”, Ong concluded.