Ratchaprasong association head upbeat on Q4

In an interview with Thai media, Chai, who was in Shanghai for the "Thailand CONNECT The World: China MICE Commemorative Dinner 2015" conference on September 17, said tourism business in the central Bangkok area had undeniably been affected by the bomb blast at the Erawan Shrine, with a decrease of around 50 per cent in hotel bookings following the incident.

Though it has been gradually recovering in recent weeks, Ratchaprasong is yet to return to its normal, fully dynamic state, he said.

While acts of terrorism are of course undesirable, they are also by their very nature unpredictable, he added.

"Other countries have terrorism issues as well. But travellers still keep on visiting those countries because they have firm safety measures for their citizens and tourists."

He suggested that enhanced management in intelligence and security in Thailand was vital to ensuring, as far as was possible, people’s future safety in the country.

Nevertheless, Chai is confident of a more positive sentiment and outlook for the Ratchaprasong area during the rest of the year, he said during the interview.

The RSTA and the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) have together created the "Thailand CONNECT Welcome Package Ratchaprasong District". Providing special hotel and retail discounts to recipients, thepackage aims to promote activities |by both bodies to target business travellers, especially those |from high-potential markets like China.

Considered one of the most dynamic areas in Thailand, Ratchaprasong contains a large number of major economy-stimulating places, including 3,900 hotel rooms, more than 40,000 square metres of convention-centre space and more than 884,200sqm of retail shops, restaurants, spas and entertainment venues, Chai told the conference.

Like many other parts of Thailand, Ratchaprasong has welcomed a considerable number of Chinese travellers in recent years, he said.

According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, China sourced the highest number of travellers to the Kingdom for the past three years.

Moreover, it was earlier estimated that 7 million to 8 million Chinese would visit Thailand this year, which would again make China the |No 1 source market, among an estimated total of 28.8 million foreign |visitors over the course of the year.

However, the number of foreign

travellers from August 17 – the date of the Erawan Shrine blast – to September 30 is expected to fall by around 1.3 million from the originally predicted level, resulting in a revenue loss of about Bt70 billion.

Five of the 20 fatalities and 33 of the 163 people injured as a result of the bomb blast were from mainland China.

Other initiatives for the Ratchaprasong area include the planned construction of Bangkok Skyline, a 500-metre pedestrian flyover linking The Platinum Fashion Mall and Gaysorn Shopping Centre to the current Skywalk from the BTS Skytrain.

With an investment budget of more than Bt400 million, the flyover is expected to open next year and double the number of daily users of the current Skywalk to about 100,000.

The RSTA will also collaborate with a tour-guide company to operate a seven-shrine tour in the district, said Chai.

With tours expected to take around an hour and a half, travellers will be taken to see and worship at seven Hindu shrines, along with hearing the story of each shrine’s history and relationship with the area.

The tour is expected to attract many foreign travellers, and especially Chinese visitors, many of whom have strong faith in the Hindu gods.