AS THE US-Israel war on Iran enters the third week Thai tourism industry is now starting to feel the impact of some people hesitating to go on a holiday but this is also an opportunity to draw more Asian tourists to the country, PTTVHD36 said today (March 14).
Mr. Chotichong Surangkul, vice president of the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA) and deputy managing director of Nomsao Tour Co., Ltd., said some Thais who were planning to travel to Western destinations are either postponing or cancelling their trips while new travellers are switching to Asian countries instead
Airlines too are affected as they now have to divert to reach Europe with airfares having increased by over 200 percent.
Where inbound tourism is concerned, there will be some impact with a decrease in the number of Middle Eastern tourists, totalling around 1 million annually, affecting certain businesses such as hospitals that primarily serve them.
A bigger drop in European tourists, accounting for approximately 23 percent of total international arrivals, is already affecting hotel chains which are seeing 20-25 percent cancellations.
Although this crisis is triggering short-term volatility, it also presents an opportunity to draw more Asian tourists to Thailand as well as boosting domestic tourism. It is necessary to enhance tourism competitiveness by developing unique attractions, creating landmarks and using local cuisine as selling points.
Chotichong also said he is preparing proposals for the new government to amend the outdated Hotel Act and business regulations which do not reflect current realities. Of the approximately 100,000 hotels in Thailand, only about 15,000–16,000 hold valid licences, or less than 20%.
This is not because hotel owners intentionally break the law but that the licensing process is very complex and slow with it being necessary to apply for 15–18 sub-licences. Under this tiered process, if any agency is slow or delays the application, it has a ripple effect, causing the entire process to stall.
Tour operators are also going to propose that the government reduce corporate tax from 20% to 10-15% for a period of 2-3 years to improve business liquidity and aid recovery, with this being because most tour companies are SMEs who had previously been heavily impacted by Covid-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile Tourism Authority of Thailand has projected three possible impacts from the war in the Middle East:
– If the war ends within 2-4 weeks, 35-36 million tourists are expected to visit the country this year.
– If the war drags on for 1-3 months, the number of tourists will decrease to 30-31 million, or a reduction of 18%.
– Should it last longer than 3 months, this could reduce the number of tourists to only 27-29 million, from the target of 36.7 million international arrivals this year.
CAPTION:
Tourists enjoying themselves in Thailand. Above photo – Thai Rath, Front Page photo – NNT
Insert – Mr. Chotichong Surangkul. Photo – PPTVHD36
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