News Forum - Thailand expecting a million Middle Eastern tourists following restoration of Saudi ties

[Thaiger]

Thailand hopes to restore its battered tourism sector by welcoming around a million Middle Eastern tourists by the end of this year. Government spokesperson Traisulee Traisornkul says the restoration of ties with Saudi Arabia, after a 30-year freeze, will help revive the tourism industry in the kingdom. “Restoring relations between Thailand and Saudi Arabia would play a crucial role in increasing the number of tourists from the Middle East in Thailand. The Tourism Minister had aimed that by 2022, the number of travelers from the Middle East would be increasing up to 1 million.” According to a Pattaya News report, […]

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[DoUKnowWhoIAm]

21 minutes ago, Thaiger said:

The Tourism Minister had aimed that by 2022, the number of travelers from the Middle East would be increasing up to 1 million.”

Provided that they scrap their draconian entry rules, there might be a tiny chance.

[Soidog]

A number based on nothing more than wishful thinking. No market research. No calculation based on past performance and current restrictions. It’s just another “Good News” article aimed at raising morale. It’s a story meant for a Thai audience.

[HolyCowCm]

1 million, 1 million. Do I hear 2 million? 2 million, 2 million? Must be an extremely big orafice to have these numbers pulled out.

[remo940]

Only 38 million more needed to get back to normal

[Malc-Thai]

Well they looking for rich tourists to replace the rich Russian tourists that won't be able to afford to come.. oh well white linen hoodies already being replaced by red and white checked tea towels..

[Fundok]

3 hours ago, Thaiger said:

Thailand hopes to restore its battered tourism sector by welcoming around a million Middle Eastern tourists by the end of this year. Government spokesperson Traisulee Traisornkul says the restoration of ties with Saudi Arabia, after a 30-year freeze, will help revive the tourism industry in the kingdom. “Restoring relations between Thailand and Saudi Arabia would play a crucial role in increasing the number of tourists from the Middle East in Thailand. The Tourism Minister had aimed that by 2022, the number of travelers from the Middle East would be increasing up to 1 million.” According to a Pattaya News report, […]

The story Thailand expecting a million Middle Eastern tourists following restoration of Saudi ties as seen on Thaiger News.

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TAT appears more and more desparate. Not long ago the gay South Korean community, car rallies on Phuket and now visitors en masse from KSA. Sure, those Saudis are happily going to subject themselves to T&G 3.0, and to come in large numbers to Thailand any time soon, since the wet & hot season soon to come will be soooo attractive to them. /s

Maybe there will be visitors from the KSA, but presumably much less and only once the winter seasons starts I would imagine.

[Janneman]

I'm pretty sure they will get 1 million Arab tourists, maybe even 2 million. Before the end of 2024 that is.

[Stonker]

4 hours ago, remo940 said:

Only 38 million more needed to get back to normal

Things must have changed since I moved up north ... I don't recall 39 million tourists from the Middle East.

[Stonker]

2 hours ago, Fundok said:

..... and to come in large numbers to Thailand any time soon, since the wet & hot season soon to come will be soooo attractive to them

I don't recall many of them coming to enjoy the sun and sand either, as they can get plenty of that at home and that wasn't what they were after ... but maybe that's changed too.

[Stonker]

5 hours ago, Soidog said:

It’s a story meant for a Thai audience.

Who'd have guessed, coming from the Thai government ...

[yasar]

 

The entry procedures to the country are too many, so tourists do not want to come.

 

[Brownie]

They'd better pray hard for the Arabs to come (no pun intended) because India just extended the ban on scheduled international flights till further notice.

[PapayaBokBok]

Im sure the bargirls are excited....

[TheDirtyDurian]

I don't think a million a year is out of the question, maybe not this year, but next year I don't see why not if COVID is done with by then. 

You've got UAE, KSA, Oman, Jordan, Israel, Egypt, Turkey, Iran. Must be able to get a million out of that lot. 

[TheDirtyDurian]

1 hour ago, PapayaBokBok said:

Im sure the bargirls are excited....

The A-rabs are a lot happier to splash the cash than some geriatric cheap charlie from Doncaster on a pension. 

I'm sure the girls will be excited. 

 

[TheDirtyDurian]

11 hours ago, Fundok said:

TAT appears more and more desparate. Not long ago the gay South Korean community, car rallies on Phuket and now visitors en masse from KSA. Sure, those Saudis are happily going to subject themselves to T&G 3.0, and to come in large numbers to Thailand any time soon, since the wet & hot season soon to come will be soooo attractive to them. /s

Maybe there will be visitors from the KSA, but presumably much less and only once the winter seasons starts I would imagine.

Actually, the rainy season is very attractive to them. And your comment shows a lack of understanding of the weather in the Middle East at that time and the attitude to rain. 

Temperatures easily push close to 50 in summer. Hottest I've known it was 52 and I consider myself lucky that I'm inland so the humidity isn't so bad. Quite simply you can't be outside in the daytime for any length of time unless it's at night. 

Humidity in cities like Jeddah, Khobar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Manama is unbearable in summer. 

People could go a whole year and see no rain. Saudis love the rain. It makes them happy. As soon as it rains they're off into the desert or a park somewhere to camp and drink tea and coffee. 

So basically, it will be cooler in Thailand by a good 10 degrees at least probably, and raining sometimes. It's perfect. Even grey skies will be great. 

[Stonker]

2 hours ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Actually, the rainy season is very attractive to them. And your comment shows a lack of understanding of the weather in the Middle East at that time and the attitude to rain. 

Temperatures easily push close to 50 in summer. Hottest I've known it was 52 and I consider myself lucky that I'm inland so the humidity isn't so bad. Quite simply you can't be outside in the daytime for any length of time unless it's at night. 

Humidity in cities like Jeddah, Khobar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Manama is unbearable in summer. 

People could go a whole year and see no rain. Saudis love the rain. It makes them happy. As soon as it rains they're off into the desert or a park somewhere to camp and drink tea and coffee. 

So basically, it will be cooler in Thailand by a good 10 degrees at least probably, and raining sometimes. It's perfect. Even grey skies will be great. 

Absolutely on all your posts here, DD - I 'm not sure the Turks would be overjoyed to be grouped in with the Gulf states, but a million should be easily do-able and they're not after sun and sand!

[Cathat]

The numbers are perfectly reasonable.thailand was a very popular saudi family holiday destination prior to the incident in the 80's.

It was a popular long stay destination for saudi families during the hot summer months and was considered good value compared to europe.not everybody has an oil well in their back garden.

You also now have lots of young saudi proffesionals with high disposable incomes and a love of travel.

For the young saudi crowd thailand is a perfectly feasable long weekend destination.

overnight flights don't bother anybody in the middle east,it's a way of life in that part of the world for expats and locals alike.

If anything the figures are probably a bit conservative.

[Thaidup]

Why is the Thai Baht still so high?

 

If they get all these tourists, we are going to be screwed with the exchange rate.

Edited February 28, 2022 by Thaidup

[HiuMak]

1 hour ago, Thaidup said:

Why is the Thai Baht still so high?

Good for combating inflation

[Soidog]

In 2019 tourism to Thailand from the Middle East was 700,000. Although Saudi Arabia had no direct flights and you could not enter Thailand visa exempt, it has still been possible for Saudis to visit Thailand. A simple indirect route via a second country and you could enter with visa on arrival. They were discouraged from travel to Thailand, but it could be overly optimistic to think direct flights and visa exemption will add another 43% to people travelling from the Middle East.

Im sure some of the comments relating to rain and cooler weather are all true during the peak summer months in the Middle East. But there are plenty of other options Saudis will have been travelling to.  Like all these predictions from TAT, time will tell.

[Fundok]

12 hours ago, TheDirtyDurian said:

Actually, the rainy season is very attractive to them. And your comment shows a lack of understanding of the weather in the Middle East at that time and the attitude to rain. 

Temperatures easily push close to 50 in summer. Hottest I've known it was 52 and I consider myself lucky that I'm inland so the humidity isn't so bad. Quite simply you can't be outside in the daytime for any length of time unless it's at night. 

Humidity in cities like Jeddah, Khobar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Manama is unbearable in summer. 

People could go a whole year and see no rain. Saudis love the rain. It makes them happy. As soon as it rains they're off into the desert or a park somewhere to camp and drink tea and coffee. 

So basically, it will be cooler in Thailand by a good 10 degrees at least probably, and raining sometimes. It's perfect. Even grey skies will be great. 

Got a school good friend who lived in Dubai many years where he taught at the university. He told me that indeed the Dubaitis (and it will not be much different elsewhere in the region) try to escape the very hot temperatures you correctly refer to. But preference has (at least so far) been given to places such as Europe and North America. Thailand will not only be wet but also hot which typically results in high humidity. I am sceptical if this sort of climate is really very attractive, and my crystal bowl predicts low numbers during the rainy season, but hey, let's wait and see who's right at the end.

Just, that in the past any visitor number predictions of TAT have been - let's be nice and call it - overly optimistic.

[Fundok]

8 hours ago, Cathat said:

The numbers are perfectly reasonable.thailand was a very popular saudi family holiday destination prior to the incident in the 80's.

It was a popular long stay destination for saudi families during the hot summer months and was considered good value compared to europe.not everybody has an oil well in their back garden.

You also now have lots of young saudi proffesionals with high disposable incomes and a love of travel.

For the young saudi crowd thailand is a perfectly feasable long weekend destination.

overnight flights don't bother anybody in the middle east,it's a way of life in that part of the world for expats and locals alike.

If anything the figures are probably a bit conservative.

I appreciate your optimism which I am hesitant to share. Thailand 30 yrs ago (that's when the tourism from KSA came to a halt) is different of nowadays Thailand. If your predictions are true, why aren't we seeing huge numbers of tourists from other parts of the region, i.e. the UAE? KSA has a population of 31m, so the potential, i.e. compared with the USA (330m) or Europe 500+m) is distinctively lower. Let's wait and see, I'd be happy to be proven wrong for the sake of the tourism industry in Thailand.

[Soidog]

22 hours ago, Stonker said:

Things must have changed since I moved up north ... I don't recall 39 million tourists from the Middle East.

Let me explain what the poster meant. He was obviously referring to the total pre-pandemic volume of 39 million. I’m sure you knew that but another opportunity to be argumentative couldn’t be missed. The only other explanation for you not understanding it is that you are unaware that 39 million was the official tourist number to Thailand pre-pandemic.