Japanese tour group has cancelled a 300-room booking in Bangkok out of concern about political instability. Leading
tourism-business operators fear more cancellations, especially now that
14 countries have issued travel warnings for Thailand.
Thai Hotels Association president Prakit Chinamourphong said his
group was gathering information on possible cancellations at all hotels
nationwide after the Japanese group cancelled its reservation at the
Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel in Sukhumvit Soi 22 for next month. The
number of foreign tourists for Songkran is expected to be down 30-40
per cent from last year. "What’s more worrying is we plan to welcome 50,000 Chinese tourists
for May Day plus other visitors attending meetings slated for later
this year," he said.
Some 6,000 delegates are scheduled to travel here for a medical and
nutrition conference and more than 20,000 for a Lion’s Club function. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)
said Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Japan had advised
their citizens to avoid areas where protesters were gathering. Belgium,
France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, Norway, Denmark and
Singapore have also alerted their citizens to potential risks.
TAT executives held an urgent meeting yesterday and reopened their
"war room" to update foreign tourists about the political situation.
Offices abroad have been asked to summarise the impact on foreign
markets every two days for the tourism and sports minister. Pensuda Praiaram, deputy governor for administration, admitted the
chaos would lead to a lower number of Songkran revellers in the greater
Bangkok area, against earlier expectations of a 30- to 40-per-cent
increase. However, upcountry celebrations may not be affected.
Advance bookings for hotels on Khao San Road, a major destination
for Songkran revellers, is down to 20 per cent of capacity, from 95 per
cent before the rally. Some 200,000 are expected to spend Bt300 million
there. Association of Thai Travel Agents president Apichart Sankary said
most foreign tourists had now cancelled Bangkok city tours and would
head upcountry instead. This will lead to a loss of Bt6 million a day
for the city’s tourism business. Some 5,000 foreign tourists are
expected to take Bangkok tours on each of the three Songkran days, down
from 10,000 in the previous years. The tours costs Bt1,200 per head per
day.
Prakit said that with the number of foreign guests declining, hotels
across the nation had been closing their restaurants temporarily since
early this month, but they are hopeful the situation will improve after
the long holiday. and allow them to resume normal operations.
Le Meridien Chiang Mai has decided to close three newly opened restaurants.
