The Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the boss of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, has come out with its final tally for 2011, and the numbers are not to be believed.

The number of foreign tourist arrivals claimed by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports is so far from reality, it is ludicrous.

Thailand 2011 Floods

In an article from TTR Weekly, Thailand turns year around, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports would have you believe that there was no tsunami, earthquake, and nuclear power plant meltdown in Japan, no earthquakes in New Zealand, no wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, no riots in Egypt, Syria, Libya, Iran, and Tunisia. no bankrupt countries in Europe, no unemployment in the United States, and no floods in Bangkok, Thailand during October, November and December.

The numbers given by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports are complete lies and are super-inflated to protect the image of Thailand.  They are also inflated to protect the Thai Government jobs at the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the Tourism Authority of Thailand – both who fail daily at attracting foreign tourists to Thailand.

Ministry of Tourism’s Tourism Department released its latest arrivals report last week showing Thailand welcomed 19.1 million international visitors in 2011 exceeding a revised target of 18.5 million.

First off, the numbers forecast and the numbers claimed by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports are both about double the actual number of arrivals.

Ministry of Tourism and Sports officials in earlier estimates downgraded a target  of 19.2 to 19.5 million trips to 18.5 million following the flood crisis, but as the year closed it said arrivals had passed the 19 million mark.

The numbers reported by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports did not increase “as the year closed”.  The numbers continued to dwindle because of the floods and the reports of possbile bombings on New Year’s Eve.

However, arrivals in December continued to dip compared to the same month in 2010, due to floods around the capital. There was growth from markets in Oceania and the Americas but not from major markets in Asia and Europe.

I haven’t seen the posted fictitious numbers put out by the Department of Tourism and reported by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports for December, but if they show anything short of a 30% decline, they are absolute fabrications.

From January through December, Thailand recorded 19,098,323 international tourists, representing an impressive improvement of 19.84% over 2010 when the country suffered political conflicts during the second quarter and affected through the third quarter.

Total crock of shit! Thailand did not see a 20% increase in foreign tourist arrivals in 2011 as reported by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.  If anything, the numbers were down from 2010 despite no political turmoil in 2011.

Strong arrival trends in the first three quarters and into October helped to compensate for losses in November and December.

There were no strong arrival trends as reported by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports during the first three quarters of 2011 and October was the start of the decline due to the floods.  Remember too, that the flooding was going in Northern and Northeastern Thailand as early as August and into September.

The travel industry views the 19.1 million-figure as an astonishing leap that sees 2011 better annual performances in 2008 to 2010 when arrivals reached 14,584,220, 14,149,841 and15,936,400.

Astonishing is right.  And those numbers by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports from 2008-2010 are just as fictitious.

However, 2008 through to 2010 were poor years for Thailand politically, plus it had to contend with a global economic decline.  That has worsened with key markets such as Europe now in a  financial crisis.

More than just Europe is hurting.  Thai Government Officials at the Ministry of Tourism and Sports just won’t accept that it is a GLOBAL economic crisis.

In 2011, the only positive factor was a degree of political stability as the country geared up for national elections that saw Pheu Thai Party-led government installed in July.

One small piece of good news does not create a 20% increase of foreign tourist arrivals when everything else is bad news – floods, riots, earthquakes, economy, etc.

But natural disasters impacted on Thailand’s tourism industry in 2011. First there was a tsunami in Japan last March and later floods in  tourist destinations, Bangkok and Ayutthaya, caused tourist arrivals to stall during the last quarter.

The tourist arrivals did not “stall” as reported by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports – they tanked.  From an earlier article in the TTR Weekly, ATTA calls for clearer message -

ATTA president added: “Advanced booking have dropped 90% due to a mix of cancellations and postponed programmes after 26 October.

A 90% drop in advance bookings for November and December is not a stall.

The top markets continue to be Asia with a few strong performances from markets in Europe, Australia and the United States.

According to an article in The Nation, Tourist numbers expected to slump 30% is way more than reported by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

The number of foreign visitors is expected to drop by 30-40 per cent this month, including the Christmas and New Year’s Eve period, as tourists are worried about bomb-threat reports, according to Thai Hotels Association (THA).

But, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports claims the drop in December was only 2.47%,

In December, arrivals declined 2.47% due to floods around Bangkok. Oceania and the Americas were the exceptions with growth rates of 29.6% and 10.29% respectively.

A 10% growth rate from the Americas?  With unemployment at 10% (in reality about 20%) – no way Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

Other key markets, China and Russia, maintained growth, but only marginally in December; 5.74% and 10.02% respectively.

Bold faced lies.  China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan cancelled trips left and right.  The Hong Kong Government refused to let airlines fly to Thailand.  More bull from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

Cancellations were the highest from Taiwan at 99.28%, followed by 95.56% from Hong Kong, 84.85% from Japan, 83.98% from China, 70% each from South Korea and Indonesia, 50.5% from Germany, 39.25% from India, 25.93% from Australia, and 23.8% from the UK.

How did China show positive growth numbers with all those cancellations?  Explain please, Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

Suvarnabhumi Airport, the main aviation hub, welcomed 1,100,664 tourists in December, a decline of 4.82% due to floods.

Bullshit.  Here is reality:

The association reported that average occupancy rate at four- and five-star hotels in Bangkok this month had still not improved from last month and was as low as 30 per cent, down from more than 80 per cent in November last year.

This is saying the occupancy rates for November and December sucked.

The statistics are identified as preliminary data obtained by the Department of Tourism from the Immigration Bureau.

And are complete lies that will be shouted from the hilltops of Chiang Mai by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

Tags: bombs bullshit earthquakes floods foreign tourist arrivals lies Ministry of Tourism and Sports tourism authority of thailand