THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Effects of Paris attacks being felt globally as Thais hold their breath

Effects of Paris attacks being felt globally as Thais hold their breath

AIRLINES, STOCKS, and currencies are among the casualties of last Friday's deadly terrorist attacks in Paris as Asian markets mostly fell yesterday - but the impact on the global economy and Thai tourism sector is expected to be short-lived.

“The attacks have hit tourists’ confidence, but this should be short-term, while the number of foreign visitors coming to Thailand will be minimally affected,” said Porametee Vimolsiri, secretary general of National Economic and Social Development Board. 
The NESDB forecast of tourist arrivals next year has remained unchanged at 32.5 million, compared to this year’s 30 million.
The NESDB chief said governments in many countries, including Thailand, had already stepped up security precautions following the Paris attacks to reassure foreign visitors of their safety.
He said the effects on the Thai tourism sector would likely be similar to what happened after the recent Erawan Shrine bombing.
Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, Minister of Tourism and Sports, said police, immigration and other agencies charged with protecting tourists’ safety had stepped up measures aimed at doing that.
However, Mario Hardy, chief executive officer of the Pacific Asia Travel Association, said: “We do know that the impact on travel will be high following the incident. Travellers who typically have trips planned to destinations for the coming weeks and months will likely wait and see if the situation is under control before cancelling their trips.” 
Hardy said no destination was immune from this type of situation, adding that no one would have thought a few months ago that a tourist hotspot such as Bangkok would have been targeted by terrorists. 
“We could not and should not stop from travelling. That would be giving in to these acts of terror, which is exactly what they are hoping for. There are over 1.2 billion travellers a year crossing borders and only a very small percentage gets affected by such incidents,” he said. 
Albert Tjoeng, the International Air Travel Association’s assistant director for corporate communications in Asia Pacific, said it was premature to talk about the possible impact from the Paris attacks on air travel. 
As for financial markets yesterday, the euro tumbled on security fears in Europe and the resulting effect on the struggling Eurozone economy, adding to uncertainty in already nervous markets, which ended last week on a low owing to increased worry about the global economy.
While losses rippled across Asian stock markets yesterday, airlines were among the worst hit and regional stock indexes were also mostly lower.
Hong Kong was down 1.6 per cent yesterday afternoon, Tokyo fell more than 1 per cent and Sydney gave up 0.9 per cent. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong shed 1.7 per cent.
The Stock Exchange of Thailand Index was down 0.93 per cent in morning trading before rebounding to close at 1,388.6 – a gain of 0.45 per cent with turnover of Bt35 billion.
Japan Airlines sank almost 3 per cent and rival ANA was 3.5 per cent down, while in Sydney Virgin Australia plunged 6.5 per cent. Indonesian flag carrier Garuda fell 1.3 per cent.
In Shanghai there was big selling in China Eastern Airlines, Air China and China Southern Airlines, while tourist firms also retreated – China CYTS Tours Holding and China International Travel Service were both down more than 1 per cent.
The Thai General Insurance Association said the attacks could indirectly affect the insurance industry due to negative impacts on the trade and tourism sectors. but premiums for political violence insurance were expected to rise in a similar way to what occurred after the September 11 attacks in 2001.
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