THE series of bomb blasts that rocked several resort towns in Thailand during the August 12 Mother’s Day weekend had caused considerable concern among the international tourism community but travel specialists in the country are not expecting lasting fallouts.
Hamish Keith, group managing director at Exo Travel, told TTG Asia e-Daily: “The direct feedback we have received from our clients is that although this was a tragic and highly regrettable event, it is unlikely that travellers will avoid Thailand and as long as there are no more bombs in the next few weeks then bookings will not be seriously impacted.”
“Since the event we have had two minor cancellations but otherwise all forward bookings are largely unaffected,” he added.
“Of course there will inevitably be some impact on future bookings, however our experience of previous events is that Thailand will bounce back quickly and Exo Travel Thailand is looking forward to a very busy high season.”
Also keeping an optimistic front is Lisa Fitzell, Diethelm Travel’s group managing director, who is confident that things will return to normal fairly quickly.
She said: “We do expect (a slowdown) in new bookings in the next few weeks, but we are hopeful if things remain calm it shouldn’t impact the high season, which was looking strong for us and significantly up on last year.”
While PATA CEO Mario Hardy expects some small impacts in the short term as travellers may consider other destinations in the wake of the recent Thai bombings, he is confident that Thailand’s tourism industry is “remarkably resilient with an enviable bounce-back factor”.
What is clear, however, is that safety and security now should take precedence for the Thai trade after these “game-changing” incidents, posited Bill Barnett, managing director of C9 Hotelworks, in his latest newsletter.
“Hoteliers (in Phuket) now have a strong mandate for the safety of our prized possession tourists, as does the government,” he wrote.
“In the aftermath of the bombings, what will likely change in Phuket and other similar destinations is that like Bali, hotels will now put safety and security on the front burner. Barricades will be constructed, perimeters secured and bomb sniffing dogs deployed.”
According to Anthony Lark, president of Phuket Hotel Association, the majority of member hotels have not reported any significant loss of business from cancellations and are exercising diligence in upgrading security measures in cooperation with the local authorities.
“I believe Destination Phuket is – and always has been – resilient to crisis and this is no different,” he added.
UNWTO secretary-general Taleb Rifai has reiterated confidence in Thailand’s hosting of the upcoming World Tourism Day on September 27 while World Travel & Tourism Council’s (WTTC) president and CEO David Scowsill also confirmed that Thailand would remain the host for the WTTC World Global Summit in April 2017.
In its latest press statement, Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports maintains its target of 2.4 trillion baht (US$69.3 billion) of tourism revenue in 2016, compared with 2.2 trillion baht generated in 2015 when 29.8 million tourists visited the Kingdom.
