Thailand tourist arrivals drop sharply

The tourism high season has gotten underway in Thailand, and runs through February, but so far the prospects for this year in one of the top destinations in southeast Asia are not promising, according to the AFP.

High fuel costs saw arrivals at Bangkok’s international airport fall by 33 per cent in August over the same month a year ago, down to 600,000. In July, the number of arrivals had increased by 5.5 per cent, Ministry of Tourism statistics show.

September arrivals decreased by 21 per cent, as compared with September of 2007, and tourism experts are saying they expect the numbers to remain below normal as worsening financial conditions around the globe prompt travellers to stay at home.

“We will probably have a very bad high season,” said a spokesman for the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), Oliver Martin.

“It’s going to be everyone - from the luxury resort right down to a small tour operator, a mom-and-pop shop or a restaurant,” he added.

Martin explained that Thailand is suffering a “double whammy,” as anti-government street protests in Bangkok make their way into news internationally, and add to the concerns of potential visitors.

The chairman of the Tourism Council of Thailand, Kongkirt Hiranyakit, estimates that around one million Thais work in the tourism sector, with 700,000 involved in small- and medium-sized enterprises. He said: “The current crisis could hit around 10 percent of those or around 60,000 to 70,000 people.”

Thanks to www.travelmole.com for the above quotes, for more information on this article please visit their website.

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