Rapid Assessment for Resilient Recovery and ... - GFDRR

encouraged at-home-travel through announcing special holidays and offering tax benefits
for individual travelers using registered enterprises across Thailand. For example, in 2009,
a specific promotional campaign, “Travel for your Nation”, was initiated to encourage Thai
leisure travelers to see more of their country. This contributed to Thai leisure trips reaching
a volume of more than 29 million trips in 2010, an increase of 7 percent from 2009 levels.
Prior to the flooding, a growing percentage of Thais were not only able, but also inclined to
fly to destinations within the country and across the region for leisure and business.
Fundamental to the sector’s longevity are the efforts of both public and private sector stakeholders.
The two bodies working most directly in tourism are the Department of Tourism
(DOT) and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), both under the Ministry of Tourism and
Sports. DOT’s principal roles include tourism policy formulation and implementation, tourist
facility licensing, some statistics collection, and industry training. Meanwhile, TAT’s priorities
are marketing and promotion including the operation of overseas offices in key source
markets as well as provincial offices throughout Thailand. In conjunction with these priorities,
TAT collects and distributes key sector statistics. Representation of the private sector
is led by its apex association, the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), which represents over
15 sector associations. Well-established travel and tourism associations range from the
Thailand Hotel Association (THA), Thailand Association of Travel Agencies (TATA), Association
of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), the Federation of Thai Tourism Associations (FETTA)
and the Thai Boats Association (TBA).
Going forward, particularly in the context of the 2011 floods, fundamental shifts in source
markets and spending patterns are anticipated to be a priority for both the public and
private sectors. In the near term, Thailand’s tourism will struggle with an emerging shift
in demand patterns contributing to a decline in revenue per visitor. Following the global
financial crisis, an emerging pattern of the composition of visitors to Thailand moving away
from OECD economies and towards emerging East Asia, is contributing to a trend in decreased
tourist receipt growth as noted in 2010 and early 2011. 39 This is in the context of
noticeable increases of tourism growth of neighboring countries including Laos, Cambodia,
Myanmar, and Vietnam, as some tourists are opting to include other destinations in their
travels and spend a larger portion of their time outside of Thailand. In addition, early 2011
data suggested that tourists are spending less time in Bangkok, with foreign arrivals shifting
to popular southern tourist destinations such as Krabi, Phuket, and Koh Phangan. Prior to
flooding, the demand for rural destinations was seen to be rising as access to destinations
outside of Bangkok became considerably easier with the advent of low-cost air carriers and
the growing number of accommodation choices outside of the capital. Improved connections
and expanded airline options, including budget airlines, has directly contributed to the
growth of arrivals from India and Australia.
The decline in European tourists has been offset by a rise in regional tourism from ASEAN
countries (predominantly Malaysia) and East Asia (Japan and Korea) who in January 2011
contributed a share of over 40 percent to tourist arrival growth. Chinese tourists have also
become a large market for the Thai tourism sector following a waiver of visa fees for
Chinese tourists in early 2009. The number of Chinese tourists rose 45 percent from 2009
to 2010. Although the boost in regional tourism has been a boon for the Thai tourism sector,
39 The World Bank, Thailand Economic Monitor, April 2011
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