Thailand tourism situation

[buksida]

Thailand sold itself as a paradise Covid retreat. No one came
It’s hard to imagine a more luxurious place to spend two weeks of quarantine than the Anantara Phuket Suites & Villas, where visitors are pampered in private residences that can have their own pool and courtyard.

Yet more than three months after the resort and more than a hundred like it reopened to extended-stay travellers in an attempt to revive Thailand’s battered economy, foreign arrivals have failed to meet even rock-bottom expectations. Just 346 overseas visitors have entered the country on average each month on special visas since October, according to the Thailand Longstay Company, which helps facilitate the programme. That’s well below the government’s target of about 1,200 and a tiny fraction of the more than 3 million who came before the pandemic.

The tepid response to the country’s highly publicised reopening illustrates the difficulties facing tourist-dependent countries as they try to shore up economic growth while also protecting citizens from Covid-19 before vaccines become widely available.

The government had hoped to lure retirees escaping the European winter and others who could stay for an extended period. They would have to go through quarantine, but that could be done in the comfort of high-end resorts in a country that had been relatively unscathed by the pandemic. After two weeks, Thailand would be theirs to roam for as long as nine months.

The lack of interest is adding pressure on policy makers, who have struggled to accommodate both industry players calling for relaxed quarantine rules and public-health experts warning against putting people in danger. All the while, as the beaches stay empty, many tourism-related companies are going out of business. To make matters worse, virus cases have jumped in the country.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/20 ... o-one-came

Headline should read, 'Thailand got too damn greedy, hence no one came'.

[Big Boy]

This seems to be an incredible claim at a time when people living in Thailand can't even move freely from province to province. I guess somebody is developing a HUGE magic wand.

Mass tourism to return again in 2021 with 10 million visitors targeted and full insurance cover

https://www.thaiexaminer.com/thai-news- ... Nqk7v1-s34

[buksida]

Its just govt officials spouting bullshit to justify their positions and try to cling on to them. Even the domestic tourism sector is collapsing ...

Tour firm exits peak last month
The pandemic continues to ravage tourism operators as the number of tour companies withdrawing their licences reached its peak in December, while 65-70% of outbound agents closed indefinitely amid the tight border restrictions.

Around 10% of outbound operators gave up their licences with the Tourism Department, particularly after the resurgent virus hit local communities on Dec 15, said Suthiphong Pheunphiphop, president of the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA).

The virus which spread from its epicentre at the Central Shrimp Market in Samut Sakhon province dimmed operators' hopes for a recovery.

According to the Tourism Department, 2,598 tour operators quit the market permanently last year by returning their licences in order to get their guarantee deposits back.

As Thailand's tourism industry has faced difficulties from the lack of international tourists for nearly a year, deregistration saw the highest record in the fourth quarter last year with 765 companies in total. In December alone 293 tour companies give up licences.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/20 ... last-month

[HHTel]

34 baht for full medical cover! I'll have some of that. Where do I pay?

[buksida]

Tourist arrivals at decade low as new wave clouds outlook
Foreign tourist arrivals have plunged to the lowest level in at least 12 years after the country closed its borders to contain the coronavirus outbreak, with a resurgence in infections now undermining efforts to reopen the industry.

Tourist arrivals slumped to 6.7 million in 2020 from 39.9 million a year earlier, data from the Tourism and Sports Ministry showed on Monday. That’s the lowest number of visitors since at least 2008, according to ministry data. Arrivals in December totalled 6,556, compared with 3.95 million during the same period a year earlier.

A new wave of Covid-19 infections and a mandatory two-week quarantine are discouraging visitors, threatening a recovery in an economy that’s already devastated by the pandemic hit to exports and tourism earnings. Even though Thailand reopened borders to some visitors in October, only 10,822 tourists arrived in the final quarter, and a return to pre-pandemic levels is likely only in 2024, according to Knight Frank Thailand.

The government may fully reopen the country to international travellers after rolling out vaccines, which is expected later this year, Carlos Martinez, Knight Frank Thailand’s director of research and consultancy said in an email. “We may see the closure of less competitive hotels and investment transactions of distressed hotel assets” in the meantime.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/20 ... ds-outlook

Really? They're going to vaccinate the whole population with a couple of million Chinese shots within a year. I'd like to see that!

[Dannie Boy]

Yes, the return to pre-pandemic levels of tourists by 2024 will probably coincide with the completion of their vaccination program!!

[buksida]

TAT’s new tourism strategy is “SEXY”
“SEXY” is the name of the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s new recovery strategy to move forward after the Covid-19 pandemic. While it sounds provocative, there are no hot deals on strip clubs or go go bars… there’s really nothing sexy about the travel concept.

The strategy focuses on implementing public health safety practices, promoting environmental sustainability such as wildlife conservation and clean ups, offering new travel experiences and drawing in high spending tourists.

Here’s how they got the word “SEXY”:

S stands for safety and hygiene.

E stands for environmental sustainability.

X stands for X-tra experiences.

Y stands for yield… basically revenue from high spending tourists.

TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn says the 4 key focuses under the “SEXY” plan reflect its goal to restore tourism under the new normal measures.

“This will help restore travellers’ confidence, while driving recovery for both the Thai economy and the tourism industry to make a comeback stronger than ever.”

“Together, TAT and Thai tourism stakeholders will reshape the image of Thailand with core messages highlighting the importance of safe and sustainable travel.”

https://thethaiger.com/news/national/ta ... gy-is-sexy



Get involved in conservation, volunteering, and cleanups and then we'll bust you for not having a work permit.

[handdrummer]

"Image." No substance, just image.

It could have been worse; they could have called it HEXY. H as in Hygiene.
I never associate hygiene with Thailand.

[ahandpatsy]

SEXY. Good god do they have to come up with a new pile of total crap every month. I honestly laughed out loud at this one.

[handdrummer]

SEXY. Good god do they have to come up with a new pile of total crap every month. I honestly laughed out loud at this one.

When you're full of crap, there will be new piles regularly.

[buksida]

New ideas eyed to aid Phuket
Businesses and government officials in Phuket floated a raft of new ideas to lure foreign tourists back to the resort island, as they called on the government to allow tourists who have been vaccinated against Covid-19 to enter without needing quarantine.

...

Most importantly, however, all stakeholders agreed to rehabilitate the province for nine months, he said, before adding the meeting's participants urged the government to allow foreign tourists to enter the island starting from Oct 1.

Under the proposal, foreign tourists must be vaccinated against Covid-19 before they arrive in Phuket, said the President of Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) Bhummikitti Raktaengam.

"However, they won't be required to stay in 14-day quarantine [then]," he said.

Mr Bhummikitti also suggested that 70% of the island's residents should be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.

https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/20 ... aid-phuket

Interesting, will Phuket get vaccine priority then? Can't see the govt dropping the quarantine requirements in a hurry, it is a massive cash cow for them.

[Dannie Boy]

I would hope that if they dropped the quarantine requirements then the number of vaccinated tourists would be far greater than the trickle now coming and going into quarantine, so the money coming into Thailand would be far greater than it is now.

[Big Boy]

Crazy, only last week they were stopping fake Covid Test certificates. One door closes, and another one opens. Enter the rise of the fake vaccine certificate.

[HHTel]

Let's take a step back.

Vaccination does not prevent anyone contracting Covid. It does however give protection against severe illness, hospitalisation and death.

Even a vaccinated person who contracts the virus can transmit the virus to others.

With that in mind, an un-vaccinated person can catch it from a vaccinated person with all the ramifications - severe symptoms, hospitalisation and possible death.

It doesn't appear that the Thai population will be vaccinated to the level of 'herd immunity' (70 - 80%) for some time. Until that happens, the general public are still at risk from incoming tourists, vaccinated or not.

So they obviously don't understand the mechanics of vaccination.

As usual, the inability to 'think things through'.

[buksida]

From the article, it seems they intend to vaccinate Phuket to those levels to enable tourism arrivals without the quarantine. But then they would also have to make sure there is no travelling off the island for at least a year while the rest of the population waits for their turn.

But as with everything in this place, who knows, its the deaf leading the dumb leading the blind.