Advertorial Thailand Battles Surging Baht's Effects on Tourism

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Thailand Battles Surging Baht's Effects on Tourism

 

This year has been particularly rough for Thailand’s steadily dwindling tourist trade. The surging baht, high ATM fees, bureaucratic hurdles and troubles with the south are just a few reasons why less and less people are visiting the Kingdom.

 

However using tourist footfall as an absolute metric for success could be misleading. A crackdown on zero dollar tourism took place last year, with a particular focus on Chinese tour groups that prevent their guests’ money flowing into the country.

While there are less Chinese tourists it’s unclear how this has affected tourist revenue overall.

 

A mass hotel renovation project is the first part of the government’s plan to breathe life into the country’s declining tourist trade. It’s not clear what the criteria are for qualifying as a hotel eligible for the loan in the eyes of the government, or whether smaller establishments such as hostels will be eligible at all. The latter will be unlikely to receive loans due to the clientele they attract typically not being the biggest spenders. It’s also unclear how the recipients will be forced to spend their loans on renovations.

 

The second part of the plan is to attract more tourists, with a focus on China and India with visa exemptions and financial incentives. Encouraging Chinese tourists to flock whilst avoiding the grip of Chinese tour companies is a challenge in itself, as many rely on tour groups to cope with the language barrier. Indians being naturally easier to attract as English is usually their second language. Visa-on-arrival fees for 19 other countries are also being waived temporarily.

 

According to Wikipedia, tourism from nearly every country has declined since 2018. Chinese tourists have been the most dramatically affected demographic, falling 27%. However it’s Chinese tourists that have the ‘zero dollar’ reputation so perhaps their absence is freeing up accommodation for more valuable tourists. Indian tourists fell by 21% but perhaps we need more time to conclude the effectiveness of the new incentives. 

 

The most dramatic decrease is in tourists from the 10 ASEAN countries, falling by 49%. It’s unclear why there has been less focus on attracting tourists from these countries as they could be considered the ‘low-hanging fruit’. Current ASEAN tourism levels are on par with those from 2014, a dramatic step back from what they would be if the growing trend had continued.

 

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[The_CPT]

HA HA HA but they STILL can’t keep the USD down EVERY OTHER currency except for the USD [emoji38][emoji23].


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[kevinsan]

HK moola.

[helloagain]

If i say what i really want to to this post i will get banned so i stop, just say tourism and top people have their heads in the clouds. Start looking at oct is wetest month but phuket reservoirs are almost empty, and still 3 big hotels are hoing to be built? 

[Tayaout]

I was wondering why mention ATM fees then I read the last paragraphs.

[Jimbo in Thailand]

While Thai tourism numbers are down slightly this year they're still way up there in the overall scheme of things.  When I came back here in 2004 (1st visit after being stationed here during the late Vietnam War) there were roughly 5 million visitors per year.  Now it's almost at 40 million.  That's nearly an 8X or 800% increase!  That's a freakin' massive increase folks representing a huge amount of money.  No wonder we long term expats are now considered an unwanted liability as ever growing hiso greed engulfs the former Land of Smiles.  The handwriting is on the wall expat brothers and sisters.

[kevin612]

Many news indicated that Thailand is having a hard time. Does that mean there is a financial crisis soon?

[DefaultName]

A radical thought (for Thailand); tackle the cause, not the effect, if the high Baht is causing problems in exports and tourism, lower the Baht.  ????

[kevinmartyn]

"O" really it caused by the current government and china! You only have to look at future bookings to see Thailand has dug itself a very deep hole and rest assured there is no gold at the bottom. It will take years to recover if Thailand manages to avoid wide-spreat economic depression. No-Way will Thailand get close to 40,000,000 tourest coming to Thailand on 2020. They will have chosen other Asian countries where their hard earned money can stretch further!

[Dolmance]

I had no idea.  Where I live, over a year now, I don't think I've seen more than four or five tourists total, and they all had this confused look on their face and appeared to be lost.  I think I've been in a bar three times, if that, and the women I hook up with tend to be jungle soccer moms.  I guess it's because I'm not a beach kind of guy.  I prefer Heart of Darkness locales.  If king cobras like it, it's a pretty good bet I'm going to like it too.

[PhotoJohn]

I don't remember them ever asking for suggestions from the public, especially foreigners like us, for things that they could do to improve tourism.  Are they too proud?  Seems their limited mentality keeps them from seeing the big picture.

[flexomike]

On 10/21/2019 at 4:03 PM, The_CPT said:

HA HA HA but they STILL can’t keep the USD down EVERY OTHER currency except for the USD .


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

what the hell are you smokin dude

[Ketyo]

Are hight ATM fees really a decision criteria when people choose their holiday destination? I never chose a country based on its ATM fees.

 

And are ATM fees in Thailand so much higher than other countries. It seems that they have been going up rapidly in most countries recently.

[Tayaout]

6 minutes ago, Ketyo said:

Are hight ATM fees really a decision criteria when people choose their holiday destination? I never chose a country based on its ATM fees.

 

And are ATM fees in Thailand so much higher than other countries. It seems that they have been going up rapidly in most countries recently.

The whole article is a paid promotion for a money transfer service. 

[tifino]

4 minutes ago, Tayaout said:

The whole article is a paid promotion for a money transfer service. 

yeah!  besides tourists coming in, from higher value currency countries couldn't give a tinker's cuss for the bouncing monopoly figures...  - that is only of concern for the pensioners staying on to live.

 

Tourists are really being deflected by all the word getting back to home, warning them of how they are treated as criminals... 

 

[Fex Bluse]

55 minutes ago, PhotoJohn said:

I don't remember them ever asking for suggestions from the public, especially foreigners like us, for things that they could do to improve tourism.  Are they too proud?  Seems their limited mentality keeps them from seeing the big picture.

Yes, they most certainly are too proud. 

 

The closest they get are those cartoonish episodes of ministers and police heads walking around Sukhumvit asking westerners, in their best English 

 

"Thailan velly goose?" 

 

"Like Thailan?" 

 

We've seen the ridiculous pictures... 

[SteveK]

Nepotism and cronyism means that incompetent people are able to get into positions of power/authority, but obviously, that doesn't happen in Thailand.

 

The concept of "loss of face" means that people will never admit a mistake, reverse a decision or make an apology, even when they are actively harming the country.

 

I was messaged by a friend from the UK asking what is going on with Thai immigration - so people on the other side of the world are aware of current issues.

[bronzedude]

I just had a 7 night holiday in Singapore. Rode the MRT. Took a few taxis and paid with a credit card. The hotel had a shuttle service to the nearest shopping center and MRT station. Everything was so clean. No street vendors blocking the footpaths. No motorcycles in packs going the wrong way down a street. Beautiful trees and plants everywhere. Clean public toilets. Easy to read direction signs. Why would a quality tourist want to visit Thailand? Oh by the way, when we arrived and pass through seamlessly through immigration, our bags were waiting on the conveyor belt. Reality hit when we came back to Swampy, stood behind 15 people in the immigration line and waited 40 minutes for our 2 bags. Case closed.

[neeray]

On ‎10‎/‎21‎/‎2019 at 5:01 AM, ThaivisaSales said:

Thailand Battles Surging Baht's Effects on Tourism

No need to "battle". Just formulate a plan and do what you have to do before it's too late.

 

Ever heard of "the point of no return"?

[Pancho]

Sadly those who have hard liabilities will have to make some tough decisions. In all fairness, who could predict facial recognition in issan. MAD. I’m quite sure that there is a cool new spot, after all , we found this one all those years ago. 

[LetsCleanUpTHAILAND]

On 10/21/2019 at 4:01 PM, ThaivisaSales said:

A mass hotel renovation project is the first part of the government’s plan to breathe life into the country’s declining tourist trade.

Increasing PM2.5 levels and sea/river pollution from construction projects and ignoring the countries waste management and homeless dog crisis is the 1st part of the Thai governments plan to breath life into the countries declining tourist trade.