Thailand does not rely on Dutch tourists
Thailand increasingly has to rely on Asian tourists, because Europeans are increasingly ignoring the country. The number of Dutch people who leave for the Land of Smiles in an organized manner fell by 6,2 percent in the first months of this year. From Italy the decrease was 28 percent, from Finland 43,5 percent and from Sweden even 47 percent. This is reported by the ATTA, the Association of Thai Travel Agents.
At the end of this year, the ATTA expects a substantial growth in incoming tourism, although this will depend on the security situation in the country. In September there was a growth of 12 percent in the number of incoming tourists and calculated over the first nine months of this year even 23,2 percent plus. As you know, a state of emergency still applies in Bangkok and the surrounding province, while bomb attacks are still regularly reported in the capital. The influence of the protesting Red Shirts on tourism is evident from the fact that in April 10 percent fewer tourists came to Thailand, in May 31 percent and in June 18 percent. Incoming travel agents in Thailand who target the European market are currently complaining bitterly.
Seven Asian countries can be found in the list of main suppliers of tourists. This mainly concerns China, India, Japan and Korea. Russia is also showing strong growth. Malaysia alone accounts for ten percent of the number of incoming guests, with 1,4 million persons.
According to the ATTA, it is remarkable that almost all tourists focus on sun, sea and sand, especially in Krabi and on Phuket and Koh Samui. There is hardly any interest in the north of Thailand (Chiang Mai, etc.).
That has nothing to do with the unrest, it has to do with the rampant corruption that reigns among taxi drivers, and sometimes also at the airport itself. There will be no improvement as long as corruption is not nipped in the bud!!!!
Robert has a point there. Many tourists notice little of the corruption. They do suffer from the scam and scam. But I also spoke to tourists who thought the Grand Palace was really closed 😉
Well the Grand Palace trick is actually in EVERY travel book about Thailand. You can also ask to be scammed of course. And what's more… you are driven to a jewelry shop for the commission. Not ideal, but not really lightening either. Learn 5 words of Thai and you won't have trouble with taxis and tuk tuks anymore.
Robert, what 5 words? I mean, give me some pointers. There are also many tourists on the blog who go to Thailand for the first time. They can use that kind of information.
Was meant more figuratively. If you give the impression that you speak some Thai, people are less inclined to play tricks.
But with want not, like not, can not and stop here (mai au, mai chob, mai dai, jot tini) you come a long way. Meter (in English) stays that way. So if you want him to turn on the meter you say 'meter, dai mai?' Dai means he wants to, mai dai he doesn't.
Nonsense Johny, most corruption goes completely unnoticed by the average tourist and if he has to deal with it at all, he usually has more benefit than disadvantage (being able to buy off the police, etc.) The average taxi trick in Thailand is also no different than in other countries and can easily be prevented. Annoying if you have had a bad experience, but please do not draw general conclusions from it.
The shift from Western tourists to Asian tourists gained momentum several years ago and is a combination of the following factors in particular: the economic malaise in the USA and Europe, the fast-growing economy in Asia and a rapidly growing network of direct air connections here.
In addition, the Western markets are much more prone to incidents than the Asian markets, whether or not helped by some Western media that publish their stories unimpeded by any knowledge of the matter.
An excellent article by Hans Bos. The numbers are enlightening.
What could have been mentioned in my opinion is the possible influence of the Baht, which has become approximately 20% more expensive, on tourism from the Eurozone and, last but not least, the economic situation in Europe with all its consequences.
I doubt whether tourism from China, Malaysia, etc. will compensate for the decline in tourism from Europe.
The Thai (tourist) housing market has been on its ass since the middle of last year, which is an important indicator. .
I think that the optimistic reports from Thailand should disguise the malaise.
Hans mainly writes good articles 😉
I can't do much with this comment
Dear Jan, don't worry about it; After almost 40 years in journalism, I don't (anymore).
It was just a joke, Jan. Mai Pen Rai?
This also concerns the counts of organized trips.
I think many people who have taken an organized trip for the first time only book the flight.
You can arrange the rest of your stay much better and cheaper in Thailand yourself.
These kinds of numbers are meaningless. One and a half million Malaysians cross the border every year. What is not taken into account is that a large part of them return to Malaysia the next day or the day after, for example after a dirty weekend in Hat Yai. Koreans and Japanese also often don't stay longer than a week, because they only have ten days of vacation a year.
In the end, what matters is how much money is spent here by whom. Those would be statistics that would help the Thais.