Tourism operators praise military govt for shepherding industry from crisis to growth
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COMPANIES and their support associations in the tourism sector commend the military regime for turning the industry around, but have urged the junta to seek more "quality" tourists and maintain safety standards.
Key tourism bodies say they are pleased that since seizing power a year ago, the administration has brought the tourism sector out of the crisis it was suffering during the political chaos in Bangkok early in 2014 into growth since the final quarter of last year.
Amanda Hyndman, general manager of one of country’s luxury hotels, Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, said the tourism sector this year |was becoming as vibrant as in 2013. The sector is also much improved from last year, especially the first half.
“It’s about domestic issues, and that is not about tourists. Life is good here and business is running as usual. Travelling in Thailand is safe,” she said.
Supawan Tanomkieatipume, vice president of the Thai Hotels Association, said the tourism sector had returned to near-normal levels after taking a further plunge last May when the military took power from an elected government.
According to figures from the Tourism and Sports Ministry, international arrivals increased to 7.8 million in the first quarter of 2015, up by 23.5 per cent from first three months of 2014 at the time of the political chaos. The country welcomed about 2 million fewer visitors last year, a 10-per-cent drop from 2013 (see graphic).
In the first 13 days of this month, 929,000 foreigners visited the country, a surge of 24 per cent compared with same period last year. Key source markets were China and Malaysia. These numbers, particularly from China, are expected to increase as AirAsia prepares to operate flights between U-tapao Airport and China.
“Tourism in 2015 is very good [so far] because of political stability and good signs, including the lifting of martial law. These factors are drawing tourists back to the Kingdom. I hope the sector will continue to grow in the second quarter of this year,” Supawan said.
To keep Thailand on the global travel map, she urged the government to continue promoting |and supporting the industry by attracting more quality tourists, business travellers and niche markets in order to increase tourism revenue.
The government has also been advised to be ready for unpredictable issues, such as aviation-safety problems and natural disasters, which could have a big impact on the travel industry.
Charoen Wangananont, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), said the government should expend more effort on tourism, especially attracting big spenders and maintaining security.
“Tourists need to feel confident when planning to come to Thailand. Safety and security are needed if we want to foreigners to come back,” he said.
ATTA also wants the government to tackl aviation-safety problems as soon as possible because this has been hurting the entire sector.
“The private sector needs the government to approve multiple-entry visas for tourists, to take advantage of those who travel to Thailand regularly. Such a scheme could boost the number of visitors, particularly families, free individual tourists and business travellers,” he said.
