Thailand's outbound tourism to expand 8 pct this year
The Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA) estimates that
more than 6 million Thai tourists will travel abroad this year, pushing
outbound tourism expense up 8 percent to over 300 billion THB, according to the
National News Bureau of Thailand (NNT).
TTAA President Charoen Wangananon stated that Thai outbound
tourism in 2012 could see a growth of approximately 8 percent in comparison to
2011. However, the growth will also depend on positive factors, such as
domestic political stability and lack of natural disasters.
It is estimated that around 6 million Thai tourists will
travel abroad this year with a combined expense figure of around 300 billion THB,
which is an increase from last year’s prediction of 5.7 million outbound
tourists and 270 billion THB in expenses.
Outbound tourism in 2011 saw a continuous growth until
September when the massive flood broke out, causing the sector to take a
nosedive and leaving its annual growth rate at around 8 percent. Preferred
destinations among Thai tourists were short-haul destinations, such as Singapore, Malaysia,
Macau, Hong Kong and China.
Despite the recovery in outbound tourist figure, tour
operators will not increase the prices of tour packages this year since
consumers now have more options amidst the high competition in the market.
Additionally, consumer behavior has changed; more tourists
now prefer traveling by themselves. This group of tourists is called the Free
Independent Travelers (FITs). Currently, there is a ratio of 70 to 30 between
FIT tourists and those still using tour operators’ services.
Therefore, tour operators are urged to adjust their
marketing strategy to reduce risks by concentrating more on markets with no
visa requirement as well as securing the ones that have cooperated well with
Thailand, such as Japan, China and Taiwan./.