Picking up the pieces: Thailand lures tourists back

As normalcy returns to a country upset by weeks of civil unrest, Thailand's tourism industry has launched an aggressive campaign to attract tourists.

Recent political turmoil which led the Thai Government to issue an emergency decree, putting Bangkok under curfew, resulted in estimated losses of Bt113 billion, revealed Thailand's National Economic and Social Development Board.

According to official data, international passengers arriving at Suvarnabhumi International Airport dropped 19 per cent in May 2010 over May 2009. However, the rate of decline slowed to 6.8 percent in the month of June.

Injecting Bt400 million into its once thriving tourism industry, the Thai Government is working to revive visitor arrivals, reported local news.

The Thai Government introduced a range of measures to promote tourism, including a waiver of tourist visa fees until 31 March 2011.

To ease the financial impact on operators within the tourism industry, the Government further approved a relief package that will see a tax deduction for Thais who purchase from tour operators; the temporary exemption of operation fees for hotels; training provisions; and specialised loan conditions for small and medium tourism businesses.

The Airports of Thailand, which handles several national airports, has also committed to the cause by reducing airport fees for the next nine months.

"The entire tourism industry has come together and is moving ahead to overcome the downturn," Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Suraphon Svetasreni said.

"We are hopeful that these measures will succeed and the industry will still be able to attain its target of 14.8 million arrivals for 2010," he continued.

Thailand's tourism industry is resilient; it not only recuperated its losses from the 2003 SARS pandemic, the 2004 tsunami, and the closure of the Suvarnabhumi airport in 2008, it became a major tourist destination across the globe, claimed the Pacific Asia Travel Association.

Supporting this assertion, TAT announced last week that it was increasing its 2011 international arrivals to 15.5 million, earning the country around Bt600 billion.

Sourced=etravelblackboardasia