SE Asian travel agents see good year for tourism
TRAVEL companies in Southeast Asia believe this will be a good year for tourism, but some want to see a single-visa policy put in place for the region, which they expect would attract more Western visitors.
Vorapong Muchaotai, director of sales and marketing at Chiang Mai- based travel firm Standard Tour Co, said more people in Chiang Mai would travel abroad because of more flights operating into the province.
According to immigration figures, the number of outbound travellers going abroad from Chiang Mai reached 80,000 last year, and is likely to pass 100,000 this year. In the meantime, more foreign nationals are heading into Chiang Mai as operators have been promoting the province to high-potential markets, particularly Japan, New Zealand and Australia.
Pornthip Hirunkate, deputy chief executive officer and managing director of Destination Asia, said she saw a bright future for Thailand’s tourism industry judging from the response of clients in Britain, Northern Europe, the United Sates and Latin America. Business travellers from the US are also expected to get back on track this year. “The year 2016 will be a challenging one for the cruise business. More liners will be sailing into Phuket, Koh Samui and Laem Chabang ports,” she added. In order to ensure such a bright future, Asean nations are urged to conclude a single-visa policy, said Mario Hardy, CEO of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).
“The absence of a common visa is a great barrier for tourism in Asean. A single visa will bring [more] benefit than risk. It will help draw more Western visitors.”
Speaking at the Asean Tourism Forum held in Manila recently, Adam Kamal, CEO of Olympik Holidays in Malaysia, said outbound travel from that country would slow because of the weak ringgit, but he hoped it would rebound if the currency strengthened.
The company is pushing outbound packages to Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines because low-cost airline services make these convenient.
In the Philippines, an executive of Adam’s Express Travel Group said outbound business would continue to boom this year. Filipino tourists would travel across Asia, with Japan likely to become the most popular destination. Bali, Hong Kong and Bangkok are also among their favourites.
In March, Eva Air will begin operating from Taipei to Cebu, Philippines, with four flights a week, while Emirates will begin flying from Dubai to Cebu via Clark in the same month.
An Indonesian tour operator said prospects in that country were also bright, despite the recent bombing in Jakarta, not only this year but in 2017.
Tour operators said China would continue to be the key market driving regional tourism for some time. More than half of Chinese outbound tourists prefer to travel to Southeast Asia countries.
