Australian wholesalers corner Thai market

BANGKOK Tourism Authority of Thailand says a trade monopoly of wholesale travel operators is an obstacle for Thai tourism operators to expand business in the Australian market.
TAT Sydney office director, Rujiras Chatchalermkit, told Association of Thai Travel Agents’ members, through a Skype live cast, last Thursday, that the tourism business in Australia is now dominated by few big operators and this could hinder the ability of Thai tourism operators to extend reach into niche markets or other market channels outside of the big chains.
“The big wholesalers monopolise around 60% of the market …this situation is a key obstacle for hoteliers and tour operators trying to attract Australian tourists to use services.”

The problem for Thailand’s agents is that if they work with one chain, they are obliged not to work with competitors. The concentration of wholesalers limits an agency’s ability to diversify in the B2B market.
Also, as wholesalers consolidate and take control of retail outlets, the scope to grow or build a wider market mix reduces. It is particularly difficult for niche market tour firms.
Thailand is one of favourite destinations for Australian tourists alongside Fiji, New Zealand, Indonesia and the US.
The top Thai destinations for Australians are Phuket, Samui and Phi Phi Island while Chiang Mai is showing promise.
“Fiji, Hawaii and Bali are the big competitors for Thailand,” she said.
The director added TAT works with all the main wholesalers and their chains of retail outlets, but there are many smaller agencies that are often not identified due to the dominance of a few big wholesalers.
Aviation is another area that needs more attention.
TAT is discussing with AirAsia to grow the Kuala Lumpur hub to connect more destintions in Thailand with AirAsia X services from Australia.
“We also talking with Scoot, a Singapore Airlines low-cost unit, that flies to Sydney, Gold Coast, and Perth to add more links for Australian passengers travelling to Thailand.”
The airline has already announced a very extensive partnership with Nok Air which will accomplish that objective. It will offer connecting services out of its Changi base to all points served by Nok Air’s domestic network out of Don Mueang airport.
Thai Airways International operates 38 flights per week from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Perth to Bangkok, Qantas and Emirates fly seven flights per week each from Sydney, JetStar eight flights weekly (from Sydney and Melbourne to Bangkok and Melbourne to Phuket), and Virgin Australia operates four flights weekly between Perth and Phuket, she noted.
Last year, 9.4 million Australian tourists made overseas trips increasing 8.5%. Of that, 904,006 Australians travelled to Thailand a decrease of 2.5%, according to the director.
For January to August this year, the kingdom welcomed 555,769 Australian tourists declining 3.47% during the same period last year.

sourced:ttrweekly.com