Tourism faces Bt50 bn loss if floods linger for one month
Thailand could see Bt50 billion in tourism revenue evaporate if Bangkok and the Central provinces are inundated for one month, according to an estimate from the Tourism Council of Thailand.
Kongkrit Hiranyakit, the council’s vice president, said yesterday that the number of international visitors was now expected to drop by 15-20 per cent, or 75,000, to 1 million this quarter compared with the same time last year.
Tourism revenue would also dive by between Bt30 billion and Bt40 billion based on average spending of Bt28,000-Bt40,000 per foreign tourist per trip.
Sisdivaschr Chevarattana-porn, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, said travellers from key markets such as Japan, mainland China, Taiwan and South Korea had postponed trips to Thailand.
However, some markets such as Russia and India remain strong despite the flooding.
“I think it’s too early to talk about damages and losses, but we’ll see a clearer picture early next month,” he said.
Peak season
The council earlier estimated that the country would receive 5 million tourists from October to December, as it is the annual peak season.
During the first nine months, Thailand welcomed 14.3 million international visitors and hopes to tally up 19.3 million of them by the end of this year.
“Many countries have issued travel advisories to their citizens to avoid the floods in Thailand, while many operators and tourists have delayed their travel plans,” he said.
Further losses depend on how fast the flood subsides, but restoring tourism should take a shorter time than after political crises, when it usually takes months.
Last year, the tourism industry was devastated by the political unrest and counted more than Bt50 billion in damage.
Kongkrit said the domestic tourism business was also interrupted by the inundation.
“The domestic tourism business will suffer damage worth Bt10 billion if Bangkok and the provinces in the Central region are under water for one month,” he said.
Thais and local residents are making an average of 250,000 trips per day.
Tourism Minister Chumpol Silapa-archa has indicated that the prolonged flooding has been keeping away 7,000 tourists per day, from an average of 40,000 incoming per day.
Nok Air
Patee Sarasin, chief executive officer of Nok Air, said the airline had cancelled all flights operating out of Don Mueang Airport after it was closed by Airports of Thailand because of the flooding in the Bangkok area. Flights that had already left other airports were diverted to Suvarnabhumi Airport.
The budget airline will continue suspending its operations at Don Mueang until noon next Monday.
All passengers scheduled during that period will receive text message on their mobile phones about flight cancellations, and ticket dates will be opened automatically for one month.
Members of the Thai Hotels Association are offering special room rates of Bt600, Bt900 and Bt1,200 to help affected people.
Many hotels and serviced apartments in Bangkok and some provinces such as Chon Buri are enjoying a windfall, as many local flood victims move in for short or medium stays.
Kongkrit urged the government to prepare post-flood tourism-recovery plans and workforce-relief measures.
The Tourism Convention and Exhibition Bureau will today reveal plans to help rebuild the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) business.
