Thai tour operators plead: Don’t keep picking on us
BANGKOK – Tourism operators in the Thai capital have urged all parties to stop using the country’s tourism industry as a hostage in the ongoing political conflicts.
According to the Tourism Council of Thailand, the number of international tourist arrivals at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport dropped by 15 percent to 29,000 per day since the protests of red-shirts began more than three weeks ago.
“We (the tourism operators) have been held hostage in political standoffs on several occasions,” said Kongkrit Hiranyakit, chairman of the Tourism Council of Thailand, quoted in the Bangkok Post.
“The tourism industry is one of the vital revenue drivers of this country. We must educate the Thai people that they cannot avoid feeling an impact if the tourism industry is damaged.”
Hotels and luxury malls at Bangkok’s Ratchaprasong intersection have seen their income plummet since last Saturday, when thousands of red-shirted, anti-government protesters seized control of what is considered the heart of Bangkok’s shopping district.
Kongkrit said the local tourism industry is losing business opportunities when it should have been enjoying the windfall of the global economic recovery the same way its neighbours are.
Charoen Wangananont, a spokesman for the Federation of Thai Tourism Associations, said he believed the majority of the public was waiting for the government to enforce the law and control the
Quoted by The Nation, Prakit Chinamourphong, president of the Thai Hotel Association, warned that the tourism sector and the country’s image would be set back by at least six months if the situation erupted into violence.
At the Tourism Authority of Thailand, deputy governor Prakit Piriyakiat said foreign countries would likely revise their travel advisories in light of the latest development.
Ian Jarrett
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