Travellers say Thailand's OK

Bangkok, Thailand, 21 July 2010 - Visitors to Thailand surprisingly felt as safe in their trips during the recent political protests as they usually do when travelling in the country, according to a survey by Asia travel specialist, Asia Web Direct ( www.AsiaWebDirect.com ).

Conducted with almost 400 travellers who had booked their hotels through Asia Web Direct to visit Thailand in the month of May, the survey by the online accommodation site found that 91% felt safe during their latest trip, a small drop from the 95% of repeat travellers who usually feel safe.

More than half the respondents (56%) also said they had never seen any danger in visiting Thailand, even during the peak of protests. Four out of five said they enjoyed their trip, and almost all (99%) are open to visiting Thailand again.

Matthew Varley, Bangkok-based Executive General Manager - Asia at Asia Web Direct's parent company Wotif Group, said, "Thailand has gone through a rough patch recently and it's had an undeniable effect on tourism. It's heartening to see that visitors from across the world are throwing their support behind the country by indicating they think it's safe to visit, and that they're keen to return."

"Since the end of May we have already seen an increase in bookings to Thailand. Hopefully as stability continues we will see more tourists come back and the travel industry will resume growing again," he added.

More than 60% said the protests had not affected their travel plans. Out of those who had changed their plans, the most common action was to avoid areas affected by the protests (67%), followed by changing their hotel's location (37%), postponing their holiday (21%) and shortening the length of stay (17%).

When asked on their thoughts on Bangkok, 60% acknowledged that Bangkok's reputation as a safe and appealing destination has been damaged, but will rebuild over time if things remain stable.

Richard Chapman, General Manager of Sheraton Grande Sukhumvit Hotel in Bangkok, said, " During May, we were certainly hit hard by the political situation and achieved room occupancy of only 30%.  But demand has picked up very quickly, as we'd hoped.  We foresee a room occupancy for the month of July of over 50% and expect the demand to continue rising over the coming months to achieve pre-protest level again. "

To this end, AsiaWebDirect.com has worked with its partners on promotions offering customers exclusive deals on accommodation and activities to stimulate travel to Thailand again. AsiaWebDirect.com also recently conducted a fund-raising campaign to raise THB99,000 for the Governor of Bangkok's Together We Can fund, aimed at rebuilding efforts in the capital city. The company has seen positive response to its campaigns, seeing more than 25% growth in bookings from May to June 2010 in Thailand.

Singapore-based Fenix Wong travels to Bangkok every month on business. He said, "While the recent political instability in Thailand disrupted my travel plans in May, I believe that the country's done an admirable job in resolving the situation and reassuring travellers that it's safe to return. I've travelled to Bangkok twice in June and July and felt very safe, and I believe the country is on the road to recovery. As long as Bangkok remains stable and secure, I will continue to travel here regularly."

The traveller survey was carried out in June 2010 with 372 respondents who had booked accommodation for a visit to Thailand in May 2010 via AsiaWebDirect.com's network of 100+ destination websites, including the popular Bangkok.com and Phuket.com portals. Together, the network sees over 1.9 million visits every month.