Japan attracts more Thai travellers

BANGKOK  Kasikorn Research Centre forecasts that travel to Japan will surge 25% to 30% representing 822,000 to 855,000 visits by Thai travellers.
The centre pointed to Japan’s efforts to support tourism as a tool to revive a sluggish economy. Most of the measures have focused on attracting visitors from Asia with easy visa procedures and in some cases visa-free entry.
“Japanese authorities implemented a visa exemption programme for visitors from certain countries, including Thailand, which encouraged a double-digit growth in the past few years,” the bank said.
During 2014, foreign tourists in Japan surged 29% to reach 13,413,500, while arrivals from Thailand reached 657,600 trips, up 45%.
inside no 2Asian travellers are attracted to Japan for various reasons but the predominant ones are the quality of its culture and heritage, high tech attractions, the convenience and safety of public transport, overall cleanliness and a dining experience that Asians can relate to easily.
In addition the weakening of the Japanese yen, against other Asian currencies has made the destination value for money.
This year, the bank estimates travel from Thailand will increase by 25.0% to 30.0% to reach 822,000 to 855,000 visits.
Thai tourists will spend THB26.3 to THB27.5 billion, up 20% to 25%. Last year, spend grew by an estimated 45.3%.
The decrease in estimated spend in Thai baht was mainly due to a weaker JPY, which depreciated 13.7% year-on-year versus the THB during the first quarter of this year. The spend excludes air fares.
As long as Thailand’s low-cost airlines and charter flights can continue to fly to Japan the bank forecasts a steady growth in travel to Japan. Recently Japan banned new flights and charters from Thailand, based on ICAO report that accused Thailand’s Department of Civil Aviation of failure to adopt a raft of recommendations on improving safety checks of registered aircraft in the country. However, the ban was postponed until the end of May to accommodate travel demand during the peak school holiday months April to May.
Kasikorn Research Centre is a subsidiary company of Kasikorn Bank, which conducts tourism and business research mainly on Thailand’s economy including tourism with reliable recommendations and indicators on business prospects.

sourced:ttrweekly.com