Barriers to recovery for international tourism in Thailand

 

From Murray Hunter

A return to Thailand’s pre-Covid tourist numbers is most probably out of the question for a number of years. A number of factors could hinder a revival of tourism in the foreseeable future.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) predictions of between 10-18 million tourist arrivals in 2022 must be taken with a grain of salt. TAT’s focus on attracting the super wealthy seems to be based on just an idea rather than market research, as are ideas to attract first-time tourists, and wealthy Indian tourists.

The limited Phuket sandbox opening back in July failed to filter much spending down to the small ancillary businesses that support tourism such as entertainment, massage shops, and small restaurants. Super wealthy tourists will only assist the super deluxe five-star resorts, mostly owned by large corporations, and not much else.

Traditionally, most tourists coming to Thailand have tended to be price sensitive. Thailand has historically been the destination of backpackers, middle-income holiday makers, with a small percentage of super wealthy tourists.

There are now countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, and even Malaysia that are very competitive with Thailand. The Caribbean, Latin America, and southern Europe are attracting tourists from Europe this year due to their competitiveness and relative ease of entry into each country.

Thailand’s greatest barrier to expanding international tourism is its own bureaucracy.

Government agencies have created cumbersome requirements for prospective tourists. The process of entering Thailand has become, from recent reports, very risky.

If a visitor tests positive for Covid-19 upon arrival, or records a negative result but was sitting near someone who was positive, they will be placed in a 14-day quarantine at their own expense. This was not advertised at the time of opening borders.

Local media reports claim this has cost some visitors between Baht 50,000 (RM6,371) and in one case, a local hospital charged Baht 350,000 (RM44,601).

The relatively high costs of Covid tests at the airport, the extra Baht 500 entry charge into Thailand in 2022 that will be collected from a booth upon arrival, media stories of tourists being assaulted, raped and murdered, dual pricing, and taxi scams are slowly eroding the good reputation of Thailand as a tourist destination.

There will be a need to consider alternative strategies and create new employment opportunities.

Revitalising domestic tourism

The government encouraged a focus on domestic tourism in 2020, in which 2.23 million Thais took local holidays in March 2021 before the upsurge in Covid cases in April, after the Songkran holiday period.

Many of the traditional tourist areas were bypassed, but new regions were popular. These included areas which had developed eco and farm tourism attractions with resort-style food and accommodation.

Adventure activities like rafting have sprung up along rivers, along with pontoon stays on lakes, and scenic restaurants with food catering specifically for Thai tastes.

While most ‘red light’ districts have become desolate, border towns like Betong, in the deep south, have reinvented themselves as weekend getaways for big bike and family groups.

The winners of the surge in domestic tourism were adventure-orientated SMEs, many made up of people who were involved with foreign tourism, and family-owned boutique hotels and eco-resorts. Many hotels that serviced tourism have either reopened as apartments, or become hospitals for Covid-19 quarantine stays.

When provincial rules for domestic travel are streamlined and case numbers decrease to acceptable levels, domestic tourism is set to surge beyond March 2021 figures again. It’s probable that there could be more than 25 million domestic tourists in 2022. Domestic tourism will distribute spending across the country into the hands of SMEs and family businesses. - FMT

Murray Hunter is an independent researcher and former professor with the Prince of Songkhla University and the Universiti Malaysia Perlis.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.