Thailand tourism collapsed

Source: MO

travel agencies Thailand complain that they get half as many customers this month as in previous years. The economic crisis and the political struggles of the past year can Thailand cost 2,7 billion euros according to the government.

The peak season for the tourism sector starts in October Thailand, but there is not much of that in Bangkok yet

to notice. Many of the graceful boats in which visitors would otherwise glide down the city's Chao Phraya River now float empty at the jetties. It is also remarkably quiet around the royal palace, one of the main attractions.

“There are at least half as many tourists,” says Athiraj, a tour operator in Bangkok. It's like we're still in the low season." “It has never been this bad,” says Jintana, an entrepreneur who offers boat trips. “Normally I have so many customers in October that I don't have time to eat during the day.”

Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva already estimated in April that the decline in the number of visitors will cost Thailand 2,7 billion euros this year. Surapol Sritrakul, the chairman of the sector organization Thai Travel Agents, says that Thailand was able to welcome 50 percent fewer foreign tourists in the first months of this year than in 2008. In July, according to official statistics, there were still 16 percent fewer arrivals. travelers to Suvarnabhumi International Airport than in 2008.

Unrest
An important cause of this decline is the highly flaring political conflict that brought Thailand into the world news at the end of last year and in the spring of this year. In Bangkok, there were regular incidents between the police and demonstrators of the two camps in which Thai politics is divided. Last November, opponents of the previous government even occupied Suvarnabhumi, the main access road to the country.

After the change of power, supporters of the fallen government and former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra began to unravel their demons. In April this year, they even suspended an East Asian summit in the resort town of Pattaya. The demonstrators with their red t-shirts still regularly appear near tourist attractions.

The international economic crisis and the fear of swine flu are also decreasing visitor numbers.

Hope for recovery
Hotel owners and travel agencies hope that a wave of last-minute bookings can still save the season. expensive hotels are convinced that the worst of the political crisis is now over and that visitors who should not worry too much about money will soon find their way back to Thailand.

Thailand earns about 10 billion euros a year from tourism. In recent years, the infectious lung disease SARS, the tsunami and the international bird flu epidemic have also resulted in declining bookings. But recovery was never long in coming. Passenger numbers have continued to rise steadily in recent years. In 2008, Thailand received more than 14 million foreigners travelers visiting.

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More and more tourists in Thailand come from their own country or from other Asian countries. There the economic crisis will probably be forgotten more quickly than in the US or in Europe. Asian travelers however, appear to be even more quickly deterred by political unrest. Travelers from Europe and the US are still spending the most money for the time being, so Thailand continues to look forward to their return.