Friday March 3, 12:31 PM
Thailand's Tourism Industry Not Yet Affected by Political Woes
BANGKOK, March 3 Asia Pulse - Thailand's ongoing political tension has not yet affected the country's tourism sector since hotel occupations and airplane ticket reserves remain booked at a normal level, according to an industry executive.
Vijit na Ranong, President of the Tourism Industry Council of Thailand, said on Thursday that he believed the current political situation had dampened the tourism climate in some sections of Bangkok because the city was the center for rallies demanding political change.
However, the hotel occupations and airplane ticket reserves for various tourist destinations are still booked at a normal level.
There has been no cancellations of flights or hotel reservations by tourists.
Still, some government officials had definitely postponed reservations for hotels and seminar rooms following the dissolution of the House of Representatives on February 24, he said.
Mr. Vijit conceded hotel room reservations are likely to drop slightly if the political turmoil drags on since tourists might wait to see when the situation would ease.
Organizers of international conferences may hesitate to choose Thailand as a venue for meetings since they give a priority to the safety.
He said the local tourism would be definitely affected if the political situation escalated into violence and led to riots.
So, he wanted officials concerned to give tourists proper understanding of the current political development to ease their concern.
However, he said he was confident the country's tourism this year would grow 10 per cent year-on-year as earlier targeted with money circulation exceeding 400 billion baht (US$10.3 billion).