Home » Thailand » Travel News

ASIANVENTURE TOURS DETAILS

THAILAND TOURS | THAILAND CAR RENTAL | THAILAND FLIGHT | THAILAND HOTELS

QUICK GUIDANCE,... To help you learn more about Thailand, we provide a wide variety of valuable and comprehensive news topics relating the local tourism. Whether you are looking for news of hotel portfolios, travel companies, attractions and entertainments or simply the calendar of hot events and festivals, you are in the right place to get all and more. You just sign up to get the update information and browse through the sections below for helpful news. HOT PACKAGE TOURS Delighful Koh Samet Beach, 4 days Wonderful Pattaya Beach, 4 days Hidden Trails, 4 days Pearl Of Siam, 4 days

thailand braces for booking slowdown

BANGKOK - Tour operators and wholesalers in Thailand are reporting a drop of between five and 20 per cent in forward bookings compared to the same period last year, and are closely watching the impact of the global economy, rising fuel price and a weakening US dollar.

World Travel Service (WTS) managing director, Mr Kusa Panyarachun, said: "Bookings (for Thailand) dropped by 20 per cent from January to March compared to last year." Diethlem Travel Group COO, Mr Richard Brouwer, reported its inbound tour business during the first three months of this year was on budget for all destinations across Asia, except China due to the incidents in Tibet. "However, it looks like we will face the challenge of meeting the budget for the second quarter. April’s performance was not overly impressive and bookings for May are lower than expected." While Vietnam would continue to do well in the second quarter, Mr Brouwer said the rest of the company's Asian destinations would be lower than budgeted. Apart from Vietnam, Kuoni Group contracting manager, Mr Andre van der Marck, said Bali -quoting in US dollars — would continue to do well. "However, Thailand will be most affected, particularly in the beach resort destinations, where prices have gone up by up to 30 per cent, and twice in a year over the past two years. " Rates at some hotels in Phuket are now 60 per cent higher than right after the (2004) tsunami." Mr Kusa said Bangkok was the most affected destination for WTS, due to the political situation. "The steady rise in fuel prices and fuel surcharge imposed by airlines will prevent some tourists from travelling overseas," he added. Wilms: increasing food costs may slow down leisure travel. And the weakening US dollar against the euro was drawing a growing number of European tourists across the Atlantic Ocean, resulting in a booking slowdown for Asia, they noted. Kuoni's Mr van der Marck said the US had become significantly cheaper for European travellers. At press time, he cited an exchange rate of US$1.60 for ?1, compared to US$1.19 for ?1 last year. Meanwhile, online wholesaler WD Travel CEO, Mr Heiko Wilms, said: "Increasing food costs in Asia may contribute to a slowdown in leisure travel. "Increasing oil prices in Europe may lead to a drop in Asian inbound because of higher transport costs. "A combination of both will affect the travel industry adversely. Phuket will be more badly affected compared to Hong Kong and Singapore, which will continue to do well as they attract business travellers and conventions." Asked what would be the impact from the anticipated tourism slowdown, Diethelm's Mr Brouwer said he believed the impact would be short-term as the expected high season, from October to December, would help offset the decline during the second quarter. "We also know that if Thailand and Vietnam had more flights, we will be able to produce more tourists in the high season," he said.

Posted on 20 May, 2008, Resource from TTG

more thailand travel news
•	Iata Thailand Plays Hard Ball (20 May, 2008)