TRAVEL operators in Thailand are not reporting significant cancellations or postponement of inbound visitors after Monday’s bombing in Bangkok.
“We have received very few cancellations. To be exact we have received 12; this is less than one per cent of the bookings we have here till the end of the month,” said Laurent Kuenzle, CEO of Asian Trails told TTG Asia e-Daily and TTGmice e-Weekly. “I do expect some cancellations over the next few days,” he added.
“Very, very few” clients have changed their plans, Kuenzle said, elaborating that those who altered their Thailand plans have opted to head to the beaches in the south or mountains in the north.
This pattern of transferring to nearby destinations was also confirmed by Hans van den Born, managing director of Diethelm Travel Thailand. “At this stage, the impact has been very small and limited only to one MICE event and a couple of re-routings of bookings to avoid Bangkok.
“People are heading straight to another part of Thailand or another region we operate in,” he said.
“Bangkok may see an initial decrease of tourist arrivals with people heading straight to beach destinations or Indochina until they feel confident again,” commented van den Born. “It will also be important to find the perpetrator(s) behind this violent attack in order to restore confidence at the main tourist source markets again.”
Likewise, Kuenzle opined that the fallout on Thai tourism would be muted, with a short-term impact on the regional market and an even less pronounced effect on the longhaul market, which is currently in its low season.
