Thailand could miss tourism targets amid ongoing unrest

It seems more likely that Thailand will have a struggle to meet a targeted 15.7 million tourists during 2008, as political unrest continues to undermine visitor confidence and threatens economic growth.

Both airlines and hotels are reporting cancellations after the declaration earlier this week of a state of emergency by Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej. The decision followed clashes that occurred between thousands of anti-government demonstrators occupying Government House and their pro-government rivals. One demonstrator was killed and dozens more were injured in confrontations, which led many countries, including Singapore and South Korea, among others, to warn their citizens against non-essential travel to the country.

In the last quarter, the economic growth of Thailand slowed for the first quarter in a year, and the kingdom’s central bank is predicting that expansion will continue to slow during the remainder of the year, as anti-government protests affect investor sentiment.

“We have done ourselves in by worsening the situation with protests and the state of emergency,” the President of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, Apichart Sankary, stressed. “The global economy has already delayed travel decisions. If the situation can’t be resolved by the middle of this month, we will lose a lot of tourists.”

Thailand’s second-busiest airport, Phuket International, was closed for 43 hours from 29 to 31 August, due to a blockade by anti-government protesters. That closure cost the airport operator, Airports of Thailand (AoT), approximately $172 million, the acting AoT President Serirat Prasutanond reported.

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