“The first quarter of 2020 looks terrible” – tourism in northern Thailand.

“Bookings in the north are down and the outlook for… the first quarter of 2020 looks terrible.”

The head of the Northern Hoteliers’ Association based in Chiang Mai is painting a grim picture about the immediate future for tourism in northern Thailand.

She was bemoaning that bookings in the north are down and the outlook for the end of this year, and entering the first quarter of 2020, “looks terrible”.

Speaking to snook.com, La-iat Bungsrithong painted a picture of a sluggish tourist landscape in the north and poor pre-bookings during the, usually, busy Christmas and New Year period, and into the early months of next year.

She was blaming many of the same issues brought up by others in the tourism game – the high Thai baht, US-China trade wars and sluggish global economy.

“Compared to last year tourism was down and there seemed little hope on the horizon.”

“Chinese visitors remain the mainstay in the North with direct flights coming in from China cities but the expansion of hotel rooms in recent times is only seeing less of the pie for each operator.”

SOURCE: Sanook