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Where Are Thailand’s Casinos And Theme Parks?

By admin on July 24, 2011 in TAT / 1 comment / 495 views

Interesting article on Fox News, Asia’s Casino and Theme Park Boom, but where the heck is Thailand and the Tourism Authority of Thailand?

Looks like the rest of Asia are doing all they can to attract tourists, and Thailand and the Tourism Authority of Thailand are doing nothing.

casino machines

The article talks about how all over Asia, theme parks and casinos are being built, but Thailand and the Tourism Authority of Thailand are not following suit. Bye-bye tourists.

Disney is opening a $3.7 Billion dollar theme park in Shanghai. There is also a Hello Kitty park being built southwest of Shanghai. And, a Monkey Kingdom park in Beijing.

Universal has one going in Singapore that includes a casino. Another Universal is slated to be opened in Seoul, Korea, in 2014. Legoland will open in Malaysia in 2013.

Vietnam has a $2 Billion hotel and amusement park scheduled to open in 2014.

Asian theme park attendance is forecast to grow to 290 million in 2012 from 249 million in 2007, while spending in that period will rise from $6.4 billion to $8.4 billion, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Looks like Thailand is going to miss out on a lot of money. But, no worry. The Tourism Authority of Thailand will continue to post inflated tourist arrival numbers.

In Macau, the only place in China where casinos are legal, the Galaxy is the first of what is expected to be several new hybrid casino-resorts aimed at turning the city into a tourist and cultural destination and reducing its reliance on gambling revenues.

Kind of like what Vegas did – turn the place into a spot for families.

Legions of newly affluent Chinese making more trips around the country is one big factor driving China’s resort building boom, said Christian Aaen, a principal at consultancy Entertainment+Cultural Advisors.

But, Thailand has yet to learn how to market to foreigners, so all that Chinese money will go elsewhere.

There’s also a large pool of young people who are “looking for new things to do and are starved for entertainment,” he said.

Nothing new in Thailand for the Tourism Authority of Thailand to promote and I doubt if the Chinese would find any quality entertainment in the Land of Smiles.

So, once again, Thailand is WAY behind the power curve when it comes to attracting tourists. Something that the Tourism Authority of Thailand has yet to learn.