Bangkok hotels show there’s life after turmoil
THE number of Australians visiting Thailand in the first five months of 2010 has increased by nearly 18 percent compared with the same period in 2009.
Australia ranks as number four (outside Asia) as a supplier of visitors to Thailand with 275,945 making the journey by the end of May.
Marketing chairman of the Thai Hotels Association Suprawan
Tanomkieatipume said that only the UK, Germany and Russia send more tourists than Australia, excepting Asian neighbours.
Significantly, Ms Suprawan said that the total spend by Aussies had also increased to the baht equivalent of about A$3.23-billion – again the fourth highest outside Asia.
The improving prospects for tourist arrivals have prompted the Tourism Council of Thailand to revise up its projection for the year to between 15.19 million and 15.57 million foreign visitors.
The council earlier projected a bleak outlook following the Bangkok riots in May, saying the impact on tourism would be even worse than the fallout from the airports seizure by the People’s Alliance for Democracy in late 2008.
The council in late May forecast that the country would attract just 13 million foreign tourists this year, a sharp drop from its earlier projection of 16 million.
“A sharp recovery is clearly visible in the second half due to the world economic recovery and the government’s active measures to boost the industry,” council president Kongkrit Hiranyakit told the Bangkok Post.
He estimated that foreign arrivals in May fell by 11.1% from the same month last year.
Arrivals last month were down by 3.1% year-on-year, but he said “a relatively healthy increase in the first quarter has fortunately helped offset the drop during those two monthsâ€.
During the first half foreign arrivals increased by 13.3% from a year earlier to 7.49 million, he said.
The council expects the second-half figure to be up by 2.2% to 2.7% to between 7.71 million and 8.08 million.
Mr Kongkrit said average occupancy of hotels in key tourism areas, especially in southern and northern Thailand, was now close to the normal low-season rate of about 55% to 60%.
A notable revival in Asian visitors is being seen this quarter, he said.
Ian Jarrett
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