The Department of Tourism claims that tourism is up 20% for the month of September – pure fabrication.

October 2011 looks like tourism to Thailand should be down about 20-25% but will the Department of Tourism honestly report that?  I doubt it.

Department of Tourism Flood

It is now being reported in The Nation that most inbound tour groups have cancelled November trips.  The Department of Tourism will really have to juggle the numbers to hit their precious 19 million tourist arrivals in 2011.

In light of the government’s declaration of continuing flood encroachment and evacuations, virtually all tourist groups planning to visit Bangkok this month have cancelled.

Blame the Thai Government, the Department of Tourism and the Tourism Authority of Thailand for giving out late, out of date, incorrect, incomplete, contradictory, false information.  And, they continue to do so.

“We still have many provinces that are safe and can be visited, but there is zero information about that. The government tells only the bad news that makes tourists afraid to come,” Sisdivachr Chevaratanaporn, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), said yesterday.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has tried to sugar coat the situation and tell people where it is OK to go, but hardly anyone trusts information put out by the Thai Government.

The association met to conduct a survey on the impact on inbound tourism and found that travel agencies in overseas markets such as Japan and China had dropped trips booked for Bangkok this month.

According to the Minister of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports – no impact!

Travel firms decided not to bring groups to Thailand after hearing Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and officials on television warn that Bangkok was at high risk of inundation. Authorities are also preparing to evacuate Bangkok residents to dry provinces.

This has been going on for the past two weeks if not longer.

Bangkok features prominently in daily reports that the flood is likely to spread and the situation may be out of control.

It is out of control due to incompetent Thai Government officials that have no idea what they are doing.

Thai tourism has suffered huge damage, with thousands of people deciding not to come.

I am thinking it is more like hundreds of thousands or more.

Almost 100 per cent of tourists from China have opted out of trips planned for Bangkok this month.

According to the Department of Tourism in their September arrivals spreadsheet, 147, 544 tourists came to Thailand from China.  A 90% drop would mean that over 130,000 people cancelled their trip if roughly the same amount of tourists were expected in November.

Tourists from other countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia have also suspended their travel plans.

Malaysia had 199,000+ and Indonesia had 34,000+ in September.

Anake Srishevachart, president of the Thai-Japan Tourism Business Association, said the Japanese were afraid to visit Bangkok as well as other destinations. The government’s announcements on the flood crisis were the turning point that drove tourists away.

Japan 119,000+ in September. I guess the Japanese have had enough disasters for one year.

Thai Sin Express Co, one of the key inbound tour operators serving the Japanese market, said it witnessed a 100-per-cent cancellation rate this month, or about 30 groups.

Almost 100% from China and 100% from Japan.  So much for high season.

Last month, more than 90 per cent of advanced bookings were pulled.

October fared no better.

The ATTA urged the government to help rebuild inbound tourism as fast as possible after the flood crisis runs its course.

If only the Thai Government knew how to do that.  Oh yeah, they will promote “Miracle Thailand”, form committees, have meetings, announce in press releases all the wonderful things they are doing, and in reality, do nothing more than they have done in the past.

The Tourism Ministry also met with the private sector to discuss short- and long-term development strategies. Affected operators want help from the ministry in the form of financial assistance and tax breaks.

The Tourism Ministry is too busy building 1,820 stadiums and doesn’t care about tourism.

The Department of Tourism will be hard pressed to come out with numbers showing an increase in tourism for October and November and possibly December.

The text was modified to remove a broken link to www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Most-inbound-tour-groups-cancel-city-trips-30169198.html.

Tags: arrivals cancel china department of tourism floods japan tourism authority of thailand