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TOURISM OUTLOOK

Better as tension in politics easesTask is to restore reputation after bad coverage

By The Nation
Published on September 10, 2008

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) and oper¬ators believe the tourism industry will return to normal soon now that political tension has eased.

Pata and its members in Bangkok again said most tourist attractions were unaffected by the political turmoil, which is limited to the capital. People are carrying on their lives as usual, with the country's economic activities going normally.

President and CEO Peter de Jong said Pata would continue to monitor the situation and advise members of any changes. It had also gathered travellers' views and expectations about Thailand in order to limit unnecessary cancellations.

Luzi Matzig, an executive at Asian Trails, said things would return to normal by the end of this week, in which case damage would be limited to 10 per cent of September arrivals and 5 per cent of October arrivals.

"September is a low season for international travel to Thailand, therefore in terms of volume the impact may well be minimal if things return to normal," John Koldowski, director of Pata's strategic intelligence centre, said.

Meanwhile, Indochina Services Travel Group's bookings and client itineraries have yet to be affected by events.

However, CEO Gregory Duffell said the biggest challenge for the Thai travel and tourism industry would be to restore its reputation in the wake of unfavourable media coverage and travel advisories.

Operators said the state of emergency was a minimal safety matter for visitors despite the protests in areas of Bangkok.

According to Phornsiri Manoharn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Bangkok International Airport, Phuket Airport and Hat Yai Airport are now operating nor¬mally. Major routes between Bangkok and other parts of Thailand are unaffected, although there may be disruptions to rail services to some provinces. Bangkok's city taxi and rail services are unaffected.

All hotels and resorts in Bangkok and throughout Thailand are open for business as usual along with shopping centres, markets, restaurants and clubs.

However, the authority is worried about the possibility of huge damage if political unrest continues.

It projected between 240,000 and 840,000 visitors could be lost this year, depending on the range of violence.

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Better as tension in politics easesTask is to restore reputation after bad coverage

The Pacific Asia Travel Association (Pata) and oper¬ators believe the tourism industry will return to normal soon now that political tension has eased.

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