Pattaya tourism down 80% as Thai protests continue
Pattaya tourist levels have dropped 80 per cent from last year as political protests in Bangkok scare away the world’s visitors, the Pattaya Mail reported.
Officials from the city Tourism Department said the high season has been devastated and only Chinese New Year at the end of January held any hope of at least holding even with 2012-13. Desperate business leaders said they want to get the word out internationally that the sporadically violent and even deadly Bangkok demonstrations have not affected the Eastern Seaboard.
The also want to see real-time video footage of Pattaya posted to the Internet so potential visitors can see for themselves that the city is safe and unaffected.The business leaders also lamented that U-Tapao Pattaya International Airport was unable to accept more international flights to fly in tourists directly instead of traveling via Bangkok.
Meanwhile, a total of 48 countries have issued travel warnings to tourists intending to visit Thailand on concerns over possible political violence, Sukree Sithivanich, deputy governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said on February 1.
The prolonged political turbulence had severely affected the tourism related industries. The sector’s overall damage is estimated at up to 40 billion baht in lost revenue ($1.2 billion), he said.
Laos is the latest country to have issued travel warning for its citizen to avoid traveling to Thailand, particularly the areas where the emergency decree is imposed and where the rally sites of the anti-government protesters are.
Sukree projected that the continuing anti-government protest and Bangkok shutdown would trim the number of foreign tourists by 8-10 per cent from the set target for 2014 at 28.1 million.
The situation has also affected the business travel and conference industry. Normally, Thailand hosts big events and conferences in the second half of a year, but the industry is worried that some may be postponed or switched to other countries if the government insists on keeping the emergency decree for Greater Bangkok in place.
Pattaya tourist levels have dropped 80 per cent from last year as political protests in Bangkok scare away the world’s visitors, the Pattaya Mail reported. Officials from the city Tourism Department said the high season has been devastated and only Chinese New Year at the end of January held any hope of at least holding even with 2012-13. Desperate business leaders said they want to get the word out internationally that the sporadically violent and even deadly Bangkok demonstrations have not affected the Eastern Seaboard. The also want to see real-time video footage of Pattaya posted to the Internet so...
Pattaya tourist levels have dropped 80 per cent from last year as political protests in Bangkok scare away the world’s visitors, the Pattaya Mail reported.
Officials from the city Tourism Department said the high season has been devastated and only Chinese New Year at the end of January held any hope of at least holding even with 2012-13. Desperate business leaders said they want to get the word out internationally that the sporadically violent and even deadly Bangkok demonstrations have not affected the Eastern Seaboard.
The also want to see real-time video footage of Pattaya posted to the Internet so potential visitors can see for themselves that the city is safe and unaffected.The business leaders also lamented that U-Tapao Pattaya International Airport was unable to accept more international flights to fly in tourists directly instead of traveling via Bangkok.
Meanwhile, a total of 48 countries have issued travel warnings to tourists intending to visit Thailand on concerns over possible political violence, Sukree Sithivanich, deputy governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said on February 1.
The prolonged political turbulence had severely affected the tourism related industries. The sector’s overall damage is estimated at up to 40 billion baht in lost revenue ($1.2 billion), he said.
Laos is the latest country to have issued travel warning for its citizen to avoid traveling to Thailand, particularly the areas where the emergency decree is imposed and where the rally sites of the anti-government protesters are.
Sukree projected that the continuing anti-government protest and Bangkok shutdown would trim the number of foreign tourists by 8-10 per cent from the set target for 2014 at 28.1 million.
The situation has also affected the business travel and conference industry. Normally, Thailand hosts big events and conferences in the second half of a year, but the industry is worried that some may be postponed or switched to other countries if the government insists on keeping the emergency decree for Greater Bangkok in place.
