Travel in 2022 – how Russia is reshaping the world’s travel industry

Russians were the most visible travellers heading to Thailand post February 1, 2022, when the Thailand Pass Test & Go option was rebooted. Even with its 2 days of pre-booked SHA+ quarantine and PCR tests, along with US$50,000 Covid insurance (which has since been reduced to $20,000), the Russian travelers were delighted to jump on a plane and take the long trip to the much warmer Land of Smiles.

That situation has now radically changed and the world is reverberating to the full impact of Russia’s aggression and the invasion of Ukraine.

Now there’s a mere trickle of daily flights between Russia and either Suvarnabhumi or Phuket in Thailand. Whilst much of the rest of the world have said ’nyet’ to the arrival of any planes from Russia, Thailand is still allowing them to arrive. But even if the planes are still coming (albeit in vastly reduced numbers), the pressure of world sanctions, bans and the plunge of the Russian Ruble has already made the decision for any potential Russian travelers.

Now, the latest data from ForwardKeys, shows that the Russian invasion of Ukraine, now into its 9th day, has prompted an instant spike in flight cancellations to and from Russia, worldwide. On the day after the first tanks rolled into Ukraine, every booking that was made for travel to Russia was outweighed by six cancellations of existing bookings.

Russians escaping their bleak winter and heading to sunnier destinations were suddenly cancelling their trips. The cancellation rates between February 24 – 26 were Cyprus (300%), Egypt (234%), Turkey (153%), the UK (153%), Armenia (200%), and Maldives (165%).

Bookings for March, April and May were already reaching 32% of the pre-Covid levels of travel for outbound Russians. They were heading to Mexico, Seychelles, Eygpt and Maldives. And Thailand.

The outlook for Q3 this year was looking even stronger.

All that Russian travel enthusiasm has now collapsed and, given the harsh economic weapons thrown at Vladimir Putin, his banks, his ‘friends’ and his citizens, any recovery will be a long, long way down the track. Even if there was a swift and unexpected reversal of the Ukraine situation, Russia has already been dealt a fatal economic blow – in just one week the country been turned into a pariah state and much of the rest of the world seems happy to punish the entire country for Putin’s violence.

For countries like the Seychelles, Maldives and Cyprus, Russian arrivals represented a high percentage of their international arrivals. In Thailand that was about 8% of the total tourist mix. And, whilst the Chinese are still in China for at least the rest of this year, the loss of the Russian travel market probably represented an even higher percentage of tourists that won’t be coming to Thailand in 2022.

Sourse - The Thaiger

According to ForwardKeys, before Russia invaded Ukraine, the top twenty destinations most booked by Russian travelers in March, April and May were…. Number one, Turkey, then the UAE, the Maldives, Thailand, Greece, Egypt, Cyprus, Armenia, Seychelles, Sri Lanka, Hungary, Bulgaria, Mexico, Spain, Azerbaijan, USA, UK, Qatar, Italy and Uzbekistan.

The world travel industry will be further hit by rising airfares (due to the sharp surge in oil prices), cancellations of routes (across Eastern Europe), a higher resistance to international travel (for perceived safety reasons) and a lingering instability in world politics.

While the Thailand Pass is still seen by many potential travelers as a significant barrier to their choice of Thailand as their next travel destination, and the Russian and Chinese traveler-tap turned off, Thailand’s immediate travel future looks bleak. And this follows nearly 2 years of border closures, false restarts, over-hyped TAT arrival projections and the former Thai tourism workforce heading home to find other work.

The loss of the Russian travelers underscores a critical need for the Thai government to quickly modify the Thailand Pass, or scrap it completely. With so many other factors now making international travel difficult, Thailand will have to rethink their short to medium term tourism strategies to retain its share of the international travel market.

Of course there is no comparison of the humanitarian tragedy underway inside the borders of Ukraine at this time, but Russia’s aggression will likely have much more long-term, and far-reaching, effects than the clear and present danger it poses on the Ukranian nation right now.

VISA AGENT  /  How to register for: THAI PASS - TEST & GO

British Airways suspends all flights to Bangkok until Oct 2022

British Airways has suspended all direct flights from the UK to Bangkok until October 2022.

Reports of the cancellations first surfaced on social media earlier this week.

Travel site, The Points Guy, then received confirmation from BA that the flights have been canceled.

A spokesperson for BA said: “We apologise to customers whose travel plans are disrupted. Where a customer’s flight is cancelled, we always contact them to offer options including a full refund.  Customers who are unable to travel, or choose not to, can also continue to change their flights or request a voucher for future use as part of our Book with Confidence policy, which has been available since the beginning of the pandemic.”

Passengers have also posted on the FlyerTalk forum to say they had received confirmation from British Airways that their flights to Bangkok had been canceled.

As an alternative, passengers had been offered flights to Doha with Qatar with a connecting flight to Bangkok.

One passenger wrote: So I’m on the phone to BA now. We were booked on Avios outbound Mar 23 and return Apr 5, both cancelled of course. The slightly unhelpful Gold line agent lady says we can get you out on Qatar but the alternative carrier policy is only to Mar 31 so we can’t bring you back! I’m now talking with a supervisor who’s checking with the global team. Any advice appreciated…”

The news comes as British Airways announced earlier this month that it was scrapping more than 2,000 flights from its schedule between now and March next year.

The cancellation of flights was due to reduced demand for air travel during the ongoing pandemic.

Aviation website Simply Flying reported that data from Cirium revealed that BA had cut 2,144 flights from its winter schedule.

Flights have been canceled on domestic, short haul and long haul routes.

Passengers affected by the cancellations are advised to check the status of their bookings via the BA website. Passengers who were due to travel before 31 August 2022 can apply for a voucher that is valid until 30 September 2023.

Source - ASIAN NOW

VISA AGENT  /  How to register for: THAI PASS

.

Phuket hit as Chinese cancel room bookings after boat disaster

Tourism industry seeks tough measures to protect reputation after boat tragedy

THAI TOURISM authorities are worried following the massive cancellations of hotel room bookings by Chinese tourists in the southern island resort of Phuket following the tragic July 5 boat accident.

So far, 7,300 Phuket hotel room bookings for July and August have been cancelled by Chinese tourists. Industry insiders say the numbers are likely to increase as more hotels report their booking status. Chinese account for as many as 3 million tourists in Phuket per year, while on average some 10 million Chinese tourists visit Thailand every year.

Kongsak Kupongsakorn, president of the Southern Hoteliers’ Association, said 19 member hotels had already reported their cancellations while another 160 hotels have yet to file their reports. The negative impacts of the July 5 accident in which nearly 50 were killed are widespread and more serious than previously thought, he said.

Chatchai Tipsunavee, permanent secretary at the Tourism and Sports Ministry, said a massive number of hotel booking cancellations had been reported despite remedial measures taken by the Thai government following the boat accident.

.

FOR THE BEST GLOBAL HOTEL & FLIGHT BOOKINGS

.

 At this stage, hotel room cancellations are estimated to account for 10-15 per cent of the total business in the world-renowned resort province.

Chiaya Rapuepol, president of the Andaman Sea tourism business association, said the boat accident could cost as much as Bt42 billion in lost tourism and related revenues over the next two months. He called for the government to restore confidence in tourist safety as soon as possible to avoid even greater damage being caused to Phuket’s Bt350-billion-a-year tourism industry. News reports of the two boats capsizing received worldwide media coverage.

Phuket Governor Napat Prodthong wants the government to set up a command centre to regulate all Andaman Sea tourist activities in the nearby Phang Nga province. 

He suggested inspection points for all incoming and outgoing vessels so that authorities could more effectively enforce safety and |related laws on vessel operators, captains, passengers and crew.

The Phang Nga command centre could take responsibility for Phuket, Krabi, Trang and Phang Nga provinces, he said, adding that Phuket itself will have its own vessel command units at Ao Por, Ratchata Harbour and Ao Chalong Harbour, with closed-circuit and surveillance TV systems installed to record all incoming and outgoing tourists.

Overall, the Phang Nga command centre and other facilities would cost Bt500 million to Bt600 million to boost tourist safety in the Andaman Sea, he said.

.

.

 Meanwhile, the Phuket governor and other provincial authorities have joined with Vice Admiral Somneuk Prempramoj, commander of the Third-Region Navy responsible for Phuket and other Andaman Sea provinces, to work with harbour operators and other businesses to ensure tourist safety in the wake of the disaster. The government has announced a revamping of safety rules and regulations to prevent future accidents. The large number of vessels, boat services and even harbours in Phuket alone present a challenge for properly regulating the industry.

The Navy has sent its personnel to help provincial authorities restore confidence and to help upgrade the safety system by issuing early warnings on bad weather. Tourism authorities and others must step up preventive safety measures, such as ensuring passengers are taught how to use safety vests.

Somnuek said the Navy would propose that the central government use Article 44 of the charter to empower Phuket authorities to fast-track enforcement of rules and regulations to boost safety.

Meanwhile, Woraluk Reukch-aikan, managing director of TC Blue Dream Co, owner of the ill-fated Pheonix tourist boat, surrendered on Saturday and will appear in court today to seek release on bail. 

Relatives of the 29 victims killed in the accident have been paid more than Bt60 million in combined compensation. Altogether, 46 bodies have been recovered from the sea, while authorities are still attempting to recover another body struck in the boat’s wreckage and another passenger is still missing.

Source - TheNation