Hotels hope for increase in foreign tourists to offset slump in domestic demand

[Soidog]

1 hour ago, vlad said:

Correct Soidog they don't understand to drop prices brings the punters in. There thinking is ok Falang have big money we can make big money.I can remember going to Patong pre pandemic. The bar girls were demanding not asking for lady drinks 500tbt plus, then asking 4-5 k for short time lol.

Yea I’ve had similar experiences with crazy prices. I was in a bar in Nana a couple of years ago and balked at paying 130 for a bottle of Leo. I should be grateful. I went across the road and ordered a beer, the tab arrived and it was 180! At the time that was £4:50 for a stubby beer. I don’t pay that in central London. When I asked what was going on, I was told they have a band playing so beer more expensive. Checkbin !!

[Soidog]

22 minutes ago, TobyAndrews said:

They were charging you that? They were charging me B800 short time, and B60 lady drinks.

Maybe you are Hansum man Toby but too shy to say so !!

[TobyAndrews]

12 minutes ago, Soidog said:

Maybe you are Hansum man Toby but too shy to say so !!

Yes I am unduly modest, it has been a lifetime affliction, alas . . .

[gummy]

7 hours ago, TobyAndrews said:

They would receive our support if they allowed us in without all the jumping through hoops and high expense of entry. 

our money spent would provide support

Yes money is needed for them but moral support is as important though don't you agree ?

[gummy]

9 hours ago, whitesnake said:

yes, agree Gummy! So many foreigners claim that one is simply a guest when you're an ex-pat. To some extent...yes.. but, not when it affects "your' life too! If you work and pay tax in a country you have the right to comment, criticise and support change! 

Excellent post and in addition I would say that even once you finishing working here you still are part of them if you have married got a family and your children are starting on life's working path then you have a responsibility, as you would anywhere else, in providing support for change if you know that will help your family and their friends.

[TobyAndrews]

3 hours ago, gummy said:

Yes money is needed for them but moral support is as important though don't you agree ?

Well yes . . . but as long as it does not mean facing tear gas and rubber bullets.

[NCC1701A]

On 7/26/2021 at 10:14 AM, Thaiger said:

Hotels in Thailand’s normally busy tourist hotspots are hoping that a further re-opening to foreign travellers will offset the drop in domestic demand.

I want two blondes and a Ferrari but that is not going to happen either.  

[dmacarelli]

20 hours ago, Soidog said:

Apocalyptic images for sure. It would be amazing to have pictures pre-pandemic taken from the same angle to compare. Your comments about them learning nothing and improving things is also striking. If anything, I think we will see the worst behaviours amplified when things open. Instead of learning the real value of tourism and nurturing the industry, places will hike prices, scams will be at an all time high. Police corruption will be rampant.
I fear this will be a step change in the wrong direction for Thai tourism. The smart ones will open with discounted prices and offers to attract tourists to their business. So that’s none of them then!  

It barely matters. Tourism has been sabotaged to such an incredible degree already. It was happening long before Covid. Three years ago I spoke with GM friends who said bookings were way down, especially during the normally fully booked high seasons, or holidays. Most complained income was way down. And now?

Tourism will never recover here. Sure, you will have some tourists. But, maybe 5 million a year, within 5 years. If they are lucky. That is good for most of us ex-pats, but tragic for the Thai people, and the economy here. I call it willful destruction. 

[Soidog]

3 hours ago, dmacarelli said:

It barely matters. Tourism has been sabotaged to such an incredible degree already. It was happening long before Covid. Three years ago I spoke with GM friends who said bookings were way down, especially during the normally fully booked high seasons, or holidays. Most complained income was way down. And now?

Tourism will never recover here. Sure, you will have some tourists. But, maybe 5 million a year, within 5 years. If they are lucky. That is good for most of us ex-pats, but tragic for the Thai people, and the economy here. I call it willful destruction. 

Perhaps there’s a hidden master plan to rebalance the economy and remove the dependency on tourism. If there isn’t, they need to get a plan quickly. 

[dmacarelli]

1 hour ago, Soidog said:

Perhaps there’s a hidden master plan to rebalance the economy and remove the dependency on tourism. If there isn’t, they need to get a plan quickly. 

You are giving very small and unimaginative minds far too much credit. 

[Soidog]

3 hours ago, dmacarelli said:

You are giving very small and unimaginative minds far too much credit. 

I hid my sarcasm too well  

[vlad]

11 hours ago, dmacarelli said:

It barely matters. Tourism has been sabotaged to such an incredible degree already. It was happening long before Covid. Three years ago I spoke with GM friends who said bookings were way down, especially during the normally fully booked high seasons, or holidays. Most complained income was way down. And now?

Tourism will never recover here. Sure, you will have some tourists. But, maybe 5 million a year, within 5 years. If they are lucky. That is good for most of us ex-pats, but tragic for the Thai people, and the economy here. I call it willful destruction. 

I call it Greed dmacarelli. They were ripping off, and scamming tourists Taxi and Tuk Tuk mafia were attacking tourist's, with impunity years before Covid and were warned, but they ignored it. Now there reaping the seed's they Sowed. When its finally over and Tourism does return dmacarelli will they learn the Lesson ? .

[Martin]

This was an interesting graphic i saw the other day, from the Thai branch of an international property company. Of the occupancy rate and daily rate of higher end hotels in Phuket. 

Clearly things were starting to decline long before covid, beginning in 2018.  One wonders if Thailand will address the reasons for the decline?

Somehow i doubt it and they will plough on with the silly phrases of Phuket Sandbox, Samui Plus, Pattaya Move On, Hua Hin Recharge, PhangNa Even More Amazing thinking that's all they need to do and the millions of tourists will flock back. Boy, are they in for an awakening in the months ahead.

 

 

 

[MikeTexas]

Better to just let go and move on they to live on false hope.  Tourism won't START coming back in any significant amount until well into 2022.

[dmacarelli]

12 hours ago, vlad said:

I call it Greed dmacarelli. They were ripping off, and scamming tourists Taxi and Tuk Tuk mafia were attacking tourist's, with impunity years before Covid and were warned, but they ignored it. Now there reaping the seed's they Sowed. When its finally over and Tourism does return dmacarelli will they learn the Lesson ? .

Well, it will be a greatly diminished industry. A pale shadow of it's former self. I am predicting no more than 2 million tourists per year in 2022 and 2023. And possibly as many as 5 million a year, 2026 through 2031. I doubt it will get higher than that, in our lifetimes. Just too much sabotage. Both industry induced, as you mentioned, and administration sponsored sabotage too. The fake puritanism programs certainly do not help, as at least a portion of the tourists want nightlife, which these fake Quaker types in the army seem to want to crush. 

Some will learn humility. Some will not. None of the current members of this so called cabinet, will learn anything, as their ivory tower existences prevent any sort of natural evolution, which is more common to real human beings, than these antiquated dinosaur types. For many of us ex-pats a significantly lower number of tourists here is a good thing. But, my heart goes out to millions of Thais, who will be crushed by it. Get used to seeing more images like these:

 

[dmacarelli]

11 hours ago, Martin said:

This was an interesting graphic i saw the other day, from the Thai branch of an international property company. Of the occupancy rate and daily rate of higher end hotels in Phuket. 

Clearly things were starting to decline long before covid, beginning in 2018.  One wonders if Thailand will address the reasons for the decline?

Somehow i doubt it and they will plough on with the silly phrases of Phuket Sandbox, Samui Plus, Pattaya Move On, Hua Hin Recharge, PhangNa Even More Amazing thinking that's all they need to do and the millions of tourists will flock back. Boy, are they in for an awakening in the months ahead.

Very true. Something that seems to be getting lost in the discussion was the decline in quality tourism, not numerical tourism, long before Covid. And they keep droning on and on and on about wanting rich tourists. Hah! How do you get rich tourists? By changing things dramatically. 

There are countless things the government could be doing, if they wanted to attract the high quality tourists. First they need to figure out a way to attract tourism, WITHOUT quarantine. That is fairly simple. A very reliable lab based test in the home nation, with test results before you board the plane. Then a simple antigen test at the airport, plus vaccination. Sure, Thailand would have to invest in the test kits. Some general would have to be willing to part with a few million dollars. Each test itself, only cost $5 with the new Abbott test, which is available now. No restrictions other than that. Period. Scrap the ridiculous quarantine, and the comical sandbox program. 

Then they could get on to reform. Sacrifices need to be made. I do not hear ANY discussion about what sacrifices Thailand is willing to make, to get the tourists, and that multi trillion baht cash cow back.

The very first thing would be to repeal the anti farang wine bill, that was passed by a few very corrupt senators way back when, to protect an anemic local wine industry. They are losing billions of dollars a year in revenue, that would be had from a 80% wine duty, instead of 365%. The five star hotels would have major wine events, and the entire industry would flourish here. Millions of jobs.

Thailand keeps droning on and on and on, about how they want wealthy tourists. Again, what sacrifices are you willing to make? Rich tourists like to spend money when they travel. And they cannot do that here, as they do not like getting taken for a ride. Most wealthy people are smart with their money. Thailand could be making a fortune on a 25% luxury tax, instead of the 100% of more, which discourages most people from buying. I do not care how rich a family is. The wife simply will not spend $12,800 on a handbag, which she can get in any major world capital for $4,500. How many people do you see in the luxury stores here? They are almost always completely empty. Inane. Beyond inane.

As always, this mind numbingly stupid administration, and TAT do not even reflect enough to take these things into account. We are the center of the universe. Of course everyone wants to come to Thailand. Wrong! Dead wrong. The industry here will be very anemic, for the rest of our lifetimes. It has been sabotaged and beaten to the point where there is barely any life left in this animal. 

 

 

[Poolie]

On 7/26/2021 at 11:29 PM, Bangkok_Gary said:

“If the re-opening plan moves forward and [if] the country can control the outbreak more effectively, leading the EU to place Thailand back on the safe travel list, we can expect a surge in demand of 20 – 30% at the end of the year.”

Ha ha ha. Too funny. ROTFLMAO. Ha ha ha.

A deeply thought out and masterfully presented response.

[Poolie]

On 7/27/2021 at 12:56 AM, Soidog said:

Totally agree. If not then it will just become a place for Chinese and Indian visitors. Hardly big spenders. They need to control the value of the baht. That will help with exports as well as tourism. They also need to stop crazy prices in some restaurants and bars and provide more in the way for tourists to do. And they need to make a rapid flow test on arrival the only test for Covid for fully vaccinated people. If you test positive, you stay in your hotel room and test again on day 5 and each day thereafter with a rapid flow test. Better still, scrap the tests all together for fully vaccinated people. The virus is in the community anyway so what is the point? I could understand if the local cases were Zero. 

False. They just dont spend to the same extent on birds 'n' booze. They spend plenty.

[vlad]

How many Time's do we hear TAT pump out the same old Propaganda " A spokesman has confirmed high tourism figures have shown thousands will soon be returning from China says a TAT spokesman " pure fantasy there bread n butter tourists from Europe were never mentioned its always high end Chinese or high end rich tourist's who will be staying in the high class resorts out of reach to your bread n butter tourist. These are not likely to jump in a Tuk Tuk on the beach Rd in Patong to get ripped off or double priced.

[Soidog]

3 hours ago, Poolie said:

False. They just dont spend to the same extent on birds 'n' booze. They spend plenty.

. You should visit Thailand sometime.