The private hotel sector in Thailand, along with the Tourism Authority of Thailand, are under the false impression that tourism to Thailand will rebound in 2012.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand thinks that their new “Beautiful Thailand” campaign will woo foreign and domestic tourists to visit the flood ravaged Bangkok and surrounding areas.

Khon Kaen Silk Festival Parade

An article in the almost English online media source, The Nation, Kingdom set for post-flood tourism rebound, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has filled their pipe with wacky weed once again and predicts tourism will increase in 2012.  The Tourism Authority of Thailand is oh so wrong.

Representatives of both the private and public sectors are predicting that the tourism industry will see strong growth in the coming year as visitors return to the Kingdom after delaying trips because of the flooding crisis.

Some trips were delayed but many, many more were cancelled but the Tourism Authority of Thailand won’t admit this.  Tourists and businessmen/businesswomen have specific times for their holidays or business trips and don’t postpone – they cancel, see a different country, and don’t return to Thailand.  The Tourism Authority of Thailand will never admit this.

Marc Begassat, general manager of Pullman Bangkok King Power Hotel, said that not only foreign tourists, but also business travellers and Thais would require the use of hotels for meetings and events.

Marc has stated the obvious.  Of course tourists and business travelers need hotels – but will any of them come to Thailand? Maybe he can work for the Tourism Authority of Thailand when his hotel goes under.

Many tourists and businesspeople put their plans to travel to Thailand on hold during the flooding crisis in October and November, but they are expected to return soon.

Many more cancelled their trips to Thailand and went elsewhere in the ASEAN Community.  In some cases, Thailand hotels saw 90%-100% cancellations in October and November.  Wake up Tourism Authority of Thailand.

“We are receiving confirmations for many events that were postponed by local clients, while overseas customers have also started returning,” Begassat said.

He added some next year events are rescheduled and signed this year.

I don’t believe it. Not for a minute.  More propaganda in line with the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Kamonwan Wipulakorn, president of The Erawan Group, said many foreign businesspeople and specialists were expected to come to Thailand to take part in the rebuilding of businesses and factories damaged by flood water.

These are not tourists and not business people.  These are people that will restore factories that were inundated caused by flooding and the ineptitude of the Thai Government and the poor reporting of the flood situation by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

The firm predicts tourists from short-haul markets will return to Thailand in even greater numbers than usual as they resume postponed journeys.

The short haul trips were not postponed.  The countries banned travel to Thailand (China and Hong Kong from October 25th to  November 30th  and over 30 countries issued travel warnings.  Admit reality Tourism Authority of Thailand.

“Flooding is a natural problem and tourists understand the situation, so they’re not worried about visiting Thailand,” she said.

Bullshit!  Foreigners saw the daily contradictory information put out by the Thai Government and the Tourism Authority of Thailand via the almost English news media in Thailand.  They saw photos and videos of idiotic attempts to stem the flow of the floods.  They saw mob rule in Bangkok as armed citizens chased away Thai Government Officials as they made a feeble attempt to save Bangkok from flooding. They saw 1-5 day old “situation updates” that were posted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and were totally worthless.

According to Suraphon Svetasreni, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), inbound tourism is expected to soar in the coming year as travellers make up for time lost to the flooding.

The Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand can say what he wants since he just makes up numbers of tourist arrivals.  He always tends to forget that Europe is bankrupt, the United States in 15 trillion dollars in debt and has about 20 million people unemployed, there are riots in the Middle East, there are wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and natural disasters around the world.  Facing reality is not a trait of the Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

The TAT has estimated arrivals will total 18.4 million this year, down from its original projection of 19.5 million.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is crazy.  Arrivals in Bangkok run about 50,000 to 60,000 per day.  This means that there are about 1.5 million to 1.8 million TOTAL arrivals per month at Suvarnabhumi International Airport of which many are domestic travelers, many are Thai nationals on international flights, and many are in-transit passengers.  At most, 1/2 are tourists meaning about 750,000-900,000 arrivals per month for a total of approximately 10 million foreign tourist arrivals annually – far from 18 million.  Make believe numbers from the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

According to a report from the organisers of the International Tourism Bourse (ITB), the world’s largest tourism trade event set to take place in Berlin from March 7-11, the number of Asians travelling abroad rose 6 per cent during the first eight months of this year over the same period last year.

But, how many came to Thailand?  Interesting omission.  The Tourism Authority of Thailand doesn’t want you to know.

Increasing prosperity among the middle classes, particularly in China, India and Southeast Asia, is driving the tourism boom in the Asian-Pacific region, the ITB said.

Fifty-seven million outbound travelers from China in 2010 and Thailand captured 1-2%.  Brilliant marketing by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

It also said new products and low-cost airlines were key factors for the growth in the region.

There are no new products and no low-cost airlines unless they are talking domestic flights on Air Asia or Nok Air.  Definitely no low cost airlines for foreign tourists.  Where does the Tourism Authority of Thailand get this information?

More airlines from Arab countries flying to Asia will also generate an increasing number of trips.

Says who?  The Tourism Authority of Thailand? Remember the riots in the Middle East that will only get worse once the US Military pulls out of Iraq and talks of war with Iran increase.

Asia remains one of the world’s fastest-growing travel markets and has great potential for the European travel industry.

HAHAHAHAHA – Europe is BANKRUPT.  Any tourists that were going to visit Thailand for the cold winter months have already gone elsewhere.  You lose Tourism Authority of Thailand.

South and Southeast Asia reported significant growth. The countries ranked highest are Thailand, with close to 16 million visitors per year, and Vietnam with 5 million tourists from abroad.

Thailand is only ranked that high because of the bogus numbers from the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Other increasingly popular countries include destinations such as Burma, Laos and Cambodia, all of which reported double-digit growth this year.

Yep.  Double digit growth with real numbers taking away tourists from Thailand because they offer value for money, unique attractions to see, and service – things that Thailand has forgotten.  The Tourism Authority of Thailand only promoting Thailand to Thais doesn’t help the foreign markets.

S0, once again, the Tourism Authority of Thailand will fail and then the Tourism Authority of Thailand will report how wonderful they are with another record-breaking year of tourist arrivals.

Tags: cambodia china laos lies TAT tourism authority of thailand tourist arrivals vietnam