An article in The Nation, Flood-hit economy retools for 2012, is so far off base the “business reporters” must be bucking for jobs at the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

The unnamed “business reporters” have some far-fetched “expected trends” for 2012 that make them look as clueless as the folks at the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Gaysorn

In the Retail section of this forecast report, the “reporters” at The Nation think that shopping is the #2 reason tourists come to Thailand.  Their thinking is definitely in line with the Tourism Authority of Thailand – wrong.

Tourists come to Thailand for two main reasons. The first is to enjoy Thai hospitality, while shopping is the second draw. To differentiate the country from its rivals, Thailand needs to promote itself as the “luxury-shopping destination in Asia”. Tourists, who have strong purchasing power, will come to the country to seek high-end products they cannot find in their homelands.

I have absolutely no idea where they came up the two primary reasons for coming to Thailand as being hospitality and then shopping.  The “reporters’ at The Nation must be visiting the Tourism Authority of Thailand web site and must believe the bullshit that they post.

How can Thailand promote itself as the “luxury-shopping destination in Asia” when all it sells is crap?  Thailand is more known for the cheap knock-offs and scams than for being a high-end shopping destination.  And, by hospitality, are they referring to bars, go-go’s or massage parlors?

In the Tourism section of the forecast, they continue to have high hopes that the Tourism Authority of Thailand knows what it is doing and will actually attract foreign tourists to Thailand.

People in the hotel industry say small to medium-sized and independent hotels will become more popular this year thanks to their attractive prices of not over Bt4,000 per night compared with normal rates of business and luxury hotels of around Bt5,000.

You have got to be kidding.  I stay at very decent places all over Thailand for under 1,000 baht per night and this includes resort areas like Hua Hin, Cha-am, and Jomtien beaches.  The hotel industry needs to stop listening to the Tourism Authority of Thailand and lower their rates for a while to attract tourists to post-flood Thailand.

Because of economic slowdowns, both international and local travellers will take shorter vacations. Instead, they will go more often, thus preferring cheaper accommodation.

These need to be treated separately.  The local Thais may take more, but shorter holidays (but I doubt that) whereas foreigners will be taking way fewer holidays since they have no jobs or money.  Plus, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has absolutely no way of tracking domestic tourism.

Home stays will be on a rising trend.

This may be true, but applies mainly to local travelers.

International brands such as Ibis and Best Western should gain more business. Moreover, boutique hotels will grow gradually as operators can sell their rooms online and through direct e-mail to targeted groups. This practice will help reduce operators’ direct marketing expenses and hidden operating costs.

I have no idea why these “reporters” feel that Best Western will gain more business.  I guess they really don’t either since they give no explanation.  Thailand doesn’t know what a boutique hotel is.  Hotel operators over in Thailand just slap whatever  the current trendy name is to their “hotel” and dupe tourists.  It can be called “Executive”, Grand”, “Royal”, “Green”, “Boutique”, “Whatever” and it will still be the same dump.

However, hotels whose service focuses on foreigners or business meetings will be less popular because of the economic downturn in many markets.

This may be the only truthful statement in the article.  But, you can add one more “However”.  However, the Tourism Authority of Thailand will let us all know throughout the year 2012 how wonderful tourism is again and how Thailand is breaking all records and the foreign tourist arrival count will be 20 million in 2012 – when it really will be about 10 million.

Low-cost airlines will see great opportunities. Thai Airways International will cash in on this rising trend in July by launching Thai Smile Air as its budget carrier to compete in both Bangkok and the region. Thai Smile plans to operate mainly to China, India and Asean countries.

Thai Smile is just going to the same places that Thai Airways already goes to.  They should seek out new markets instead of adding flights to already established areas.

Traditional tourist activities such as going to beaches, mountain climbing and camping may see a reduction for the first six months of 2012. Beyond that, operators say it is too early to make predictions.

Again, no explanation behind the illogical reasoning.  This may just pertain to the local market again and these “business reporters” should differentiate between local Thai markets and foreign markets.  Despite what the Tourism Authority of Thailand thinks, they are different.

So, it looks like the folks “business reporters” at The Nation are about as clueless as the folks at the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Tags: 2012 business reporters economic forecast the nation tourism authority of thailand tourist arrivals