SATISFACTION surveys among Nordic travellers to Thailand suggest standards in the kingdom are falling, and must be addressed if the destination is to maintain the loyalty of high-value, repeat visitors.
Surveys of travellers from Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden showed that satisfaction ratings in Phuket decreased over the last three years from 4.34 in winter 2010 to 4.17 in winter 2012. While ratings are dropping across the country – from 4.35 in 2010 to 4.25 in 2012 – the trend is most pronounced in Phuket. TUI Nordic has a 29 per cent share of the inbound market from the four countries, which collectively generated 762,088 arrivals to Thailand in 2011.
Tomy Serban, product and purchase manager for TUI Nordic, said: “Seeing (that the ratings dropped) from a very strong to normal satisfaction level, we are seeing a negative trend that we have to tackle before it’s too late.” He attributes the decrease to reasons such as congestion at Phuket International Airport, changes in market mix and increased tourist numbers in Kata, Karon and Patong.
Niels Steeman, group product director of Destination Asia, pointed out that the Russian market had started to move over from Pattaya to Phuket. “It means that it is too busy, and the peace and quiet that the destination has always been known for is suddenly beginning to change,” he explained.
TUI Nordic has raised these issues with the Tourism Authority of Thailand. “We have to keep quality at the back of our minds and work on it to keep Thailand as the destination we like. Thailand is extremely popular in the Nordic countries, and we want them to come back year on year,” said Serban.
Despite this, the company expects to receive more than 100,000 arrivals this year from the four markets. About 30-40 per cent of TUI’s business to Thailand are repeat travellers who stay for up to 15 days.
– Read more in TTG Asia July 13, 2012
Reporting by Timothy France
