tourism
- Economy News
Asia leads the world in medical tourism
Over the past ten years, Asia has become a favourite destination for medical tourism for people from around the world. Besides the white sand beaches, historic monuments and rich cultural legacy, healthcare in Asia is now a major attraction. From transplants and surgeries to dental procedures and botox, people are turning to Asia. But what makes Asia the most popular…
- Tourism News
Finance Ministry approves stimulus package to spur tourism
PHOTO: Among other things, the TAT are organising some big concerts over the last three months of 2019. Some of the 50,000 that attended the BTS ‘Love Yourself’ stadium concert in Bangkok in April 2019. The Finance Ministry has now approved a stimulus package for the last three months of the year to boost Thailand’s tourism sector. The aim is…
- Tourism News
European tourism drops 1.5% year on year due to strong baht
PHOTO: AFP European tourist arrivals in Thailand are projected to decline by 1.5% (for the first eight months of this year) compared to 2018, to around 6.66 million. The malaise in the traditionally strong European tourist numbers is not as bad as anecdotally reported and has been partially made up with improvements from other regional demographics. The figures were compiled…
- Tourism News
Thai government introduces new measures to improve tourism
Proposed measures to improve tourism in Thailand have been approved in principle by the council of the economic ministers. The steps, proposed by the Tourism and Sports Ministry, are expected to be put in place before the end of 2019 and will mean an increase in the number of places and agents offering a VAT refund service to visitors to…
- Travel
Study shows Phuket has highest number of tourists per square mile
PHOTO: Bao Menglong (Unsplash.com) A study published by Travel Daily News reveals that Phuket has the highest number of tourists per square mile, with 5,090. The research was carried out by Columbus Direct, who examined visitor numbers in the world’s most popular places. With over 9 million visitors a year, Thailand’s largest island has ten times more tourists per square…
- Tourism News
Pattaya getting set for the Indian era – OPINION
by Dan Cheeseman I was a bit taken back by posters across the social networks where I shared the post that simply would not accept the Indians were bringing any value to Pattaya. Claiming Thailand would regret squeezing out the Western market and turning to the Chinese and Indians. It came across as sour grapes to me and also a…
- World News
Six more countries now get visa-on-arrival into Myanmar
Around Thailand the possibilities for foreigners travelling is growing with visa-free arrivals, waived fees, no paperwork and quick processing at Immigration ports. Now, the Myanmar government is introducing new regulations to facilitate easier access as another step towards opening up the country to the world, and tourism. Starting this week, tourists from six countries – Australia, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain…
- Pattaya News
Chinese tourist injured after falling off baht bus in Pattaya
A Chinese tourist, allegedly “showing off” according to his travel companions, was seriously injured after falling off the back of a baht bus in Pattaya. 27 year old Chinese visitor Katak Ho ended up with major head injuries at 4am on Monday after catching the baht bus along Thappraya Road, heading to Jomtien Beach. The baht bus driver fled the scene…
- Tourism News
Thomas Cook demise will affect British tourism to Thailand for the rest of 2019
“British tourists have contribute between 900,000 – 1,000,000 tourists to Thailand annually for the past seven years.” The failure of the British Thomas Cook travel business will cut the numbers of arrivals from Britain to Thailand for the remainder of this year. Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand says they are also assessing a drop in northern-European…
- World News
Phu Quoc Cable Car – Build it and they will come
PHOTO: templesandtreehouses.com “It’s the best value tourist attraction you’ll find almost anywhere in the world!” The cable-car ride from Vietnam’s Phu Quoc island to Hon Thom, aka. Pineapple Island, is a breathtaking experience. It’s an astonishing tourist attraction on an island that has ambitions to be one of south east Asia’s most popular tourist attractions. The actual cable car ride, the…
- Tourism News
Voice TV report paints grim picture of Thailand’s tourism problems
Natthapong La-orwong of the Sofitel group claims that Thai tourism is suffering, and the lack of European visitors is part of the problem. The comments were made in a Voice TV report that paints a grim picture of the Thai tourism outlook in 2019, according to ThaiVisa. Voice TV is unpopular withThai authorities with its forthright assessments and has been taken off…
- Tourism News
Obligatory travel insurance for visitors to Thailand? Don’t worry about it for now, says government
Chote Trachu, representing the Thai Ministry for Tourism and Sports, says tourists visiting Thailand don’t have to worry about the mandatory requirement for travel insurance at this time. Thailand’s tourism industry is currently experiencing some challenges, explains the Ministry’s spokesperson, and for this reason, the requirement for all visitors to have travel insurance is being postponed until 2020 – or…
- Tourism News
Thailand Finance Minister confident of success with “cash for tourists” incentive
PHOTO: ThaiVisa.com With 32,000 businesses having already signed up to the government’s “Eat, Shop, Use” tourism-stimulus campaign, the Finance Minister Uttama Savanayana says he’s confident it will be a success, and that thousands more will sign up before the deadline of September 20. Retailers, restaurateurs and service agencies can sign up to the campaign through the Thung Ngern Pracharat mobile…
- Economy News
Strong baht poses a tough challenge for Thailand
PHOTO: Dreamstime.com Thailand’s currency is currently giving it a major economic headache, according to a Bloomberg report shared by ThaiVisa this morning. The Thai baht has been the best performer globally against the US dollar for over 5 years now, but that strength has caused growth estimates to be cut for an economy relying on trade and tourism. The ongoing…
- Tourism News
Uptick in Thai tourism – August arrivals up 5.6%
Foreign tourists arrivals in Thailand rose 5.6% last month compared to a year earlier, with Chinese visitor numbers rebounding strongly, according to audited numbers published by the tourism and sports ministry. (Percentages rounded up to the nearest .1) Revenue from the 3.41 million foreign arrivals in August was 170 billion baht, up 7.1% year-on-year. The number of Chinese tourists, Thailand’s largest…
- Economy News
What goes up must come down – the battle of the baht
Newton’s law looms over the Thai baht. Meanwhile, the Thai baht continues to be the best performing currency in Asia. The Thai currency is riding a 6-year high against the USD and, this year, has surged 8% against the US currency. But the strong baht is causing knock-on effects to the rest of the Thai economy, battering exports and stifling tourist…
- Tourism News
Indian visitors to Phuket surge whilst total numbers drop
by Bill Barnett from c9hotelworks.com The soaring number of Indian visitors to Phuket for the first seven months of 2019 has propelled Indian tourists into the Top 5 arrivals for the first time. Arrivals from India from January – July, compared to the same period in 2018, grew 354%, amassing a total of 186,360 arrivals. Mainland Chinese arrival figures continue…
- Tourism News
Thai tourist numbers recover mid-year after a shaky few months in Q2
After a few dips in April and May, tourists to Thailand flocked back, up 4.72% for July compared to a year earlier. Tourist arrivals in June were up a much more modest .89%. 3.33 million tourists visited the country during July and spent 167.3 billion baht (USD5.47 billion), up 3.11% from a year earlier. Visitors from China, where there’s been…
- Tourism News
New rules to fine bad practices with tour guides and tour companies
PHOTO: Tiger Tours Thailand The Tourism Department is hoping to fast-track the penalising of unregistered and illegal tour guides and the tour companies using them. The Department will propose amendments to the tourism business and tour guide act so that penalties will be able to be imposed on violators more expediently. Thaweesak Wanitcharoen, director general of the Tourism Department, says…
- Tourism News
Japan’s Okinawa takes on Bali and Phuket
by Bill Barnett While Okinawa is often called the Hawaii of Japan, a changing Asian travelscape driven by low-cost airline carriers is seeing the resort destination attract a rising number of regional tourists. Last year, arrivals hit 9.84 million which is now elevating the market to the likes Asia’s twin resort icons, Bali and Phuket. Summing up the current shift…
- Phuket News
Daytime closure looms for Patong beach road
The mayor of Patong, Chalermluck Kebsup, has announced that from August 25, Thaweewong Road, better known as the Patong beach road, will be closed during the day while power and communication cables are installed. Apologising for the inconvenience, Mayor Chalermluck explains that the closures will be between 6.00am and 4.00pm and expected to last until September 30. She says the…
- Tourism News
TAT proposes 4am closing time at nightspots to promote tourism…ummmmm
The Thai government are coming up with new ideas to actually lure people to visit Thailand. Go figure!?! Now the Tourism Authority of Thailand is suggesting to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports to extend the closing hours of night entertainment establishments in Thailand’s party zones by another 2 hours, from 2am until 4am. Of course, in most of the…
- Tourism News
Greater Pattaya hosts hotel and tourism forum
On Thursday, September 5 a hotel and tourism market update event covering Greater Pattaya will be held at the Holiday Inn Pattaya. Jointly organised by industry leaders STR, Horwath HTL, C9 Hotelworks and the AMCHAM Thailand, the event will feature key hospitality operating and performance metrics. A special panel on the emerging trend of hotel residences will include senior executives from…
- Tourism News
Thailand’s Koh Chang by numbers, another island on the rise
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com Despite being one of the country’s biggest islands in the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Chang has remained somewhat off the mass tourism development footprint. C9 Hotelworks has taken a look into what makes the island tick in their newly released Koh Chang Tourism Market Review. Koh Chang is off the coast of Trat in far…
- Chiang Mai News
Lanterns grounded in Chiang Mai for Loy Krathong world record attempt
Enthusiastic enforcement of the TM30 form is one thing. Backing down on modern new public buses in Bangkok is another. But now the Thai government have gone too far! Officials in Chiang Mai have ordered the cancellation of a major sky lantern event, including a Guinness world record attempt, planned for the Loy Krathong festival in November, caving in to…
- Tourism News
Thai tourism will be badly hit if Hong Kong airport mayhem continues
The mayhem at the Hong Kong airport could cost Thailand tourism 1.4 billion baht in lost income according to the Kasikorn Research Centre. The centre estimates the Thai tourism industry would be adversely hit if flights from Hong Kong are disrupted for more than seven days and notes that the number of flights cancelled, heading to Thailand, have already cost…
- Tourism News
Radisson brand add another Phuket hotel to its portfolio
The Radisson Hotel Group has signed a deal for a 222 key mixed-use hotel on Phuket’s north west coast at Mai Khao. Set to open in early 2023, the hotel has sales and leaseback units under a hotel residences program. Radisson Phuket Mai Khao Beach is being developed by Thai-Chinese Property Holdings. Phuket’s ongoing development surge continues to attract Chinese…
- Business News
Thai Airways faces more bad news with bigger losses in Q2
Thai Airways’ problems appear to be compounding with a perfect storm of an ageing fleet, a plateauing of tourist intake and increased competition from newer, more nimble budget airlines. The country’s national pride and joy had a poor Q2 this year, compounding years of declining profit results. The second quarter loss more than doubled losses for the same quarter last…
- Tourism News
Cabinet to consider visa-free travel for Chinese and Indian tourists
The Minister of Tourism and Sports, Pipat Ratchakitprakarn, says he intends to introduce visa-free travel for Chinese and Indian tourists later this year. He wants to put the proposal to Cabinet as soon as possible. Chins and India are targets for Thailand’s latest tourism promotions, so visa-free-travel is back on the table for urgent consideration. Currently, citizens of both countries have…
- Tourism News
Phuket’s tourist bookings looking good – Diversity is the best option Part 3
by Guest Writer Over the past few months or so, we have read and noted much negativity in the world of tourism to Thailand’s most popular island of Phuket. As everyone is aware, May and June were particularly poor months for most tourism operators and hoteliers with several factors being mentioned to justify the drop which everyone is fully aware…
