Tourist predictions for 2010 upto 16 million
The number of foreign tourists to Thailand should reach 16 million next year as the global economic crisis and local political problems have eased, Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa said yesterday.
As well, he said, the Thai economy was showing positive signs of improvement and the Thai Khem Kaeng stimulus spending programme would be a key factor that would spur tourism.
“I think the country has already passed the worst including the airport closures in late 2008, the cancellation of the Asean Summit in Pattaya and political violence in April. It is expected that the tourism industry will clearly improve next year on condition there are no new incidents,” he said.
The minister made the comments as the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) introduced Suraphon Svetasreni as its new governor, filling a post that had been vacant for eight months.
Mr Suraphon said the TAT had set its own arrivals target at between 15 million and 15.5 million with total revenues of 560 to 570 billion baht. Arrivals this year are estimated at about 13.5 million, down by 7.4% from last year.
Trips by domestic tourists are forecast to rise to 90 million with total revenue of 430 billion baht, up from 87 million trips generating 400 billion this year.
“However, the TAT will try its best to increase the number of tourist arrivals to exceed the target set by the ministry,” Mr Suraphon said.
Strategies to promote tourism next year will include waiving visa fees from March 2010 to the end of the year. The ministry also plans to develop new tourist attractions with 138 sites planned. It will also seriously promote medical tourism and try to solve problems such as illegal taxis, a frequent source of complaints. Online and social networking will be used more to promote Thai tourism as well.
Prakit Chinamourphong, the president of the Thai Hotels Association (THA), agreed with the latest arrivals estimate of 13 million for this year, saying the association had been reviewing figures and found arrivals still low, even in the current peak month.
The occupancy rate of hotels in Chiang Mai and Phuket stands at around 65%, down from 85% in a normal period, and in Bangkok it is lower than 60%.
“We think this reflects the fact that the tourism industry has not clearly recovered in December as much as we expected. We plan to talk with the new TAT governor about organising the first hotel mega-sale next year,” Mr Prakit said.
Several mobile phone providers offer services in Pattaya, each with a range of products for the particular customers.
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China and Russia put the blame on some screwed up experiments of US for the earthquake that happened in Haiti.
Chinese and Russian Military scientists, these reports say, are concurring with Canadian researcher, and former Asia-Pacific Bureau Chief of Forbes Magazine, Benjamin Fulford, who in a very disturbing video released from his Japanese offices to the American public, details how the United States attacked China by the firing of a 90 Million Volt Shockwave from the Americans High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) facilities in Alaska
If we can recollect a previous news when US blamed Russia for the earthquake in Georgio. What do you guys think? Is it really possible to create an earthquake by humans?
I came across this article about Haiti Earthquake in some blog it seems very interesting, but conspiracy theories have always been there.
Wat Yansangwararam, most important temple in Pattaya, is considered unique for its modern architecture.
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Wong Phrachan Beach: Located north of Pattaya Bay, the short beachfront is a quiet spot, It is nice for swimming and relaxation.
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