ATTA's tourist arrivals in 2014 slide, despite some recovery in last 2 months
The number of international tourists received at two airports in Bangkok by the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) from January to November-end continued to see a slide year on year despite the expected 10-per-cent growth in total arrivals during th
According to ATTA’s statistics, 2.81 million tourists used ATTA’s members at Suvarnabhumi Airport and Don Mueang International Airport during the first 11 months of the year. The number dropped by 29.27 per cent compared to the same period in 2013, a period when operators served 3.97 million tourists.
"ATTA lost 1.16 million tourists due to political unrest in the Kingdom, as well as the impact from the demonstrations in major market such as Hong Kong. The economic downturn in some countries like Russia also had an impact," said Sisdivachr Cheewaratanaporn, president of ATTA.
He said the top 15 markets for ATTA’s inbound business were also in the red, ranging from 17.08 to 71.25 per cent. Mainland China, the biggest source of arrivals, has dropped by 17.08 per cent while Hong Kong saw the biggest fall at 71.25 per cent.
The other top-15 markets that saw a drop were India, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Indonesia, France, Germany, United Kingdom, Australia, United Kingdom, and Spain.
According to Sisdivachr, tourists travelling with travel companies slowed down, as they were concerned about security and safety mainly due to the current martial law. However, he said a lot of tourists had rescheduled from travelling in groups to individual travel.
The Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA) reported that tourist arrivals at Suvarnabhumi Airport from December 1-7 were 496,546, up from 449,478 in the same time last year, a 10.47-per-cent increase.
Surapong Techaruvichit, president of Thai Hotels Association (THA), said advance bookings at hotels nationwide climbed by 10 per cent for the New Year season, compared to the same time last year. Average occupancy rate at the moment was 70-80 per cent.
"Rebound for the hotel and |travel sector began in October. |This would mean tourists are |starting to feel confident of visiting the country," said Surapong.
Thai tourism authorities last week announced a push to boost domestic travel during the year-end through several measures. PTT petrol stations are joining the scheme, providing travel information and manuals while commercial banks are waiving fees for cash withdrawals from ATM machines.
Although the private and public sectors are hoping that tourists will return to the Kingdom during the last weeks of this year, overall arrival is expected to reach just 25.5 million, lower than the projection early this year of more than 27 million.
