Arrival growth returns in Oct
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Regime urged to make tourist safety a priority
Although the NUMBER of visitors began growing again for the first time this year in October, the military government has been urged to make tourist safety a priority, while tourism authorities have been advised to prepare a crisis-management strategy.
According to the latest Tourism Authority of Thailand statistics, visitor arrivals were up 6.14 per cent in October thanks largely to a 67-per-cent surge in arrivals from China.
There were 2.1 million arrivals in October including 501,043 from China, a leading market share of 23 per cent.
There were 19 million arrivals in total between January and October.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports said the main reason for the growth in Chinese arrivals was the waiving of a visa fee that the National Council for Peace and Order approved for August to November.
“We are pleased that the tactical visa-fee-waiver strategy produced results,” TAT governor Thawatchai Arunyik said. “It is the first upturn in arrivals this year, and we are optimistic that the growth will continue in both November and December.”
Thawatchai said the TAT had set a target of 25.5 million visitors this year and foreign-exchange earnings of Bt1.2 trillion.
The other visitor-arrival highlights in October compared with the same month last year included Malaysian arrivals increasing 11.05 per cent to 262,803, Singapore sending 79,564 tourists – up by 4.92 per cent – and arrivals from Israel and India rising 78.7 per cent and 9.14 per cent respectively.
The Asean market also showed good growth.
Ittirit Kinglake, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, said that after the May 22 coup, inbound tourism plunged for five months, and the current growth should continue into 2015 despite martial law still being in effect.
However, he said the government should allay any fears foreigners have over safety and security in the country, especially those in long-haul markets.
But he added: “Tourists from long-haul markets, including the United States, Scandinavia and Britain, are returning to the Kingdom in the current high season.”
Ittirit said many airlines from China, South Korea, Scandinavia, the Middle East, Singapore and Australia had direct charter flights into Phuket and Chiang Mai during the high season.
“In the coming year, Thailand will likely return to being a regional travel hub in terms of connecting flights and a gateway of the region,” he said.
Sanan Angubolkul, vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said many foreign tourists had safety concerns about Thailand because of the murder of two British tourists on Koh Tao.
He suggested the government and relevant authorities try to rebuild international confidence in the country and guarantee their safety of tourists while they were here.
He said state and private tourism bodies should work together closely in a bid to enhance the nation’s competitiveness as a tourist destination as well as giving it a better capacity to deal with a crisis and other unexpected issues.
At the Asean Tourism Crisis Communication Manual Standardisation Workshop in Malaysia this year, tourism authorities in each Asean nation were urged to create crisis communications and management team at the national and organisational levels. These teams should work with the national tourism organisation in each country by exchanging information when a crisis occurs.
