“British tourists have contribute between 900,000 – 1,000,000 tourists to Thailand annually for the past seven years.”
The
failure of the British Thomas Cook travel business will cut the numbers
of arrivals from Britain to Thailand for the remainder of this year.
Yuthasak
Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand says they are
also assessing a drop in northern-European tourists where tourists use
the services of Thomas Cook subsidiaries. The TAT will issue their new
projections when the full impact of the failure of the 178 year old
British travel business is assessed.
.
.
According to the Bangkok Post, talks will include agencies such as
Asian Trails, the main destination management company for Thomas Cook,
and hoteliers at popular beach locations such as Phuket, Phangnga and
Koh Samui, namely Dusit Thani, Anantara and Mandara.
In
2018, 987,456 tourists from Britain visited Thailand and 600,000+ from
northern-European countries. British tourists have contribute between
900,000 – 1,000,000 tourists to Thailand annually for the past seven
years. The figures for the first six months of 2019 had already exceeded
500,000 visitors (584,626) and would have pushed past the million-mark
for the year, but that figure is now being re-assessed.
There is
currently a repatriation of existing British tourists overseas, some
150,000, back to UK shores following the collapse of the business.
Confusion reigns as some hotels are charging Thomas Cook customers
before they’re allowed to check-out, fearful they won’t be paid.
A
prominent hotelier in Phuket, who asked not to be named, says there is
still a lot of confusion about who is responsible for payments of
existing customers and contractors as they work through the web of
agents, insurance companies, tour companies and hotel contracts.
Kanokkittika Kritwuttikorn, director of TAT’s Phuket office, says the
failure of the British travel company won’t affect the island’s upcoming
Christmas and New Year holiday season.
.
.
“Even with Phuket the preferred destination for British tourists, the
closure of Thomas Cook will not affect overall tourism in the province,
especially over the upcoming high season, she told the Bangkok Post.
President
of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, Vichit Prakobgosol, says the
closure of Thomas Cook will “slightly affect Thai tourism”, according to
the Bangkok Post.
“The fall of the firm, caused by the failure of
a Brexit deal and a depreciating currency, is a wake-up call for tour
operators about the impact of digital disruption as intense price wars
from online travel agencies take a bite.”
Source -
The Thaiger
