Tourism industry braces for continuing decline in arrivals from Russia
The drop in arrivals from Russia and slow increase in those from Europe are expected to haunt tourism throughout this year.
"Although tourism this year will improve from last year, this is not for all markets, as [the number of] visitors from Russia will continue dropping, while some key markets in Europe such as Italy and Spain will continue slowing as their economies have just started recovering," Chanin Donavanik, chief executive officer of Dusit International, said yesterday.
Hotels in Phuket are now facing hardships due to the decline in visitors, especially from Europe.
Hotels cannot raise room rates this year because of the uncertainty. Price adjustments could be seen in 2017.
The national carrier, Thai Airways International, plans to cut flights from key markets. This will also hurt tourism, especially with the loss of high-spenders.
Pornthip Hirunkate, vice president of the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), said the number of arrivals from Russian had halved in the first two months of this year. More Europeans were coming, but stayed at three- and four-star hotels instead of luxury properties.
Overall arrivals from all markets during January and February were up 16 per cent year on year. The country is expected to continue receiving plenty more visitors from Australia, China and Asean next quarter and during the rest of the year if no crisis breaks out.
Ittirit Kinglake, president of the TCT, said the confidence in the tourism industry for the second quarter was a bit better than in the past two quarters. The rosier outlook is due to the improvement of internal political issues and the rising number of travellers from key markets, especially China, which is expected to supply 5.7 million this year, up from 4 million last year.
The TCT and tourism authorities believe the country will welcome 5.6 million visitors next quarter and achieve the full-year targets for the international market of 27.9 million visitors and for the domestic market of 150 million trips.
"The government is now considering issuing multiple-entry visas for tourists, which would help attract more foreigners," he said.
The public and private sectors are marketing to some niche segments including halal dining, women and medical tourism.
The TCT urged the government to focus on five proactive measures – promoting the low season to foreign tourists, maintaining domestic stability, encouraging domestic travel, improving service standards as well as security, and developing infrastructure.
The private sector is advised to prepare alternative marketing campaigns and strategies to deal with the downturn in tourists from the West and also to cope with the explosion in Asian travellers.
Operators are also asked to launch more promotions and advertising packages to stimulate niche markets such as meetings and conferences, and medical care.
More integrated marketing and promotions for small areas can be another option to pull in holidaymakers. Operators should continue upgrading their standards, service and human resources.
