Tourism sector urges Thai government to ensure hotel safety
Private sector organisations are urging the government to issue safety certifications for hotels and lift the disaster area declaration to restore confidence in tourism.
Tourism and Sports Minister Suwang Theinthong discussed the impact of recent earthquakes on tourism with various stakeholders, expressing concern over potential declines in tourist numbers.
Efforts are underway to communicate that Bangkok is the only truly affected province. The monitoring of flight and hotel bookings both before and during Songkran is planned.
The tourism sector is advocating for the government to issue certificates for buildings that have been inspected for structural integrity. The Bangkok governor is actively deploying volunteer engineers to conduct inspections swiftly, and hotels already have their engineers.
The demand is for certification to confirm the safety of these buildings, with information to be disseminated globally by the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Additionally, the private sector is requesting the revocation of the emergency disaster declaration due to its severe implications in English, affecting tourism insurance. These recommendations have been forwarded to the prime minister.
Kris Patanasarn, committee member and secretary of the Thai Airways Association, revealed his concerns.
“In the past two days, over 1,000 hotel room cancellations have been reported, though some provinces like Pattaya remain fully booked. The monitoring of these figures is ongoing. The main concern is the cancellation of flight tickets.
“However, I am confident that messages from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports and the Tourism Authority of Thailand, distributed globally in all languages, will quickly restore confidence in Thailand. The greatest concern is China, which is the most affected. We will soon discuss next steps with the Chinese ambassador to Thailand. Songkran festival activities will proceed as planned.”
The Thai Airways Association includes six airlines: Bangkok Airways, Thai AirAsia, Thai AirAsia X, Thai Lion Air, VietJet Thailand, and Nok Air.
Over the last two days, daily passenger bookings for member airlines have dropped by 40-60%, with the Chinese market alone seeing a nearly 60% decrease. Bookings from India have fallen by 45%, Vietnam by 45%, and Malaysia by 43%. Songkran bookings remain steady.
Approximately 1,000 cases have been processed in the past two days, with 90% requesting to reschedule and 10% cancelling. Alarmingly, airport no-show rates have doubled from the usual 5-10%, reported KhaoSod.
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