Tanes Petsuwan, Deputy Governor for Marketing Communications, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), has told a panel discussion that the worst of the economic impact of the COVID 19 crisis is over.
The Thai tourism industry has passed its worst phase and is now set to make a slow and steady back to normalcy, Mr Tanes told a panel discussion on the future of Thai tourism hosted by the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) on 1st July 2020. The event was live-streamed over the FCCT’s Facebook page.
Among the panellists, in addition to Mr Tanes, were Varong Israsena Na Ayudhaya, Bangkok Airways Vice President for Marketing; Marisa Sukosol Nuntibhakdi, Vice President, Thai Hotels Association (THA), Chairman THA’s Environment Committee and Executive Vice President, Sukosol Hotels; Michael Marshall, Chief Commercial Officer, Minor Hotels; and Jeninne Lee-St. John, Editor-in-Chief, Travel & Leisure Southeast Asia.
Mr Tanes outlined a range of measures being taken by TAT from the intensive promotion of domestic tourism to a revamping of the annual Thailand Travel Market (TTM) to help the industry recover from what he called the “worst crisis in Thai tourism history”, reported the TAT in its report of the event posted 5th July 2020.
“I have been working for TAT for more than 30 years, during which we have faced many crises; such as, SARS, Bird Flu, MERS, the tsunami, even our own political crises, but we have seen nothing like this,” Mr Tanes said.
He also noted that it will be a long time before Thailand again chalks up the 2019 record visitor arrivals of nearly 40 million. However, he added, the crisis had created an opportunity for the Thai tourism industry to reform itself in preparation for the “New Normal”.
“This is the best time to make it right,” he said. “We have to move away from quantity to quality.”
He said TAT had been closely monitoring the situation in coordination with the government agencies and the private sector ever since the COVID 19 pandemic crisis began in January. The Royal Thai Government provided extensive help to companies and employees affected by the crisis, which alleviated the social impact, he said.
Mr Tanes outlined the many TAT projects; such as the Safety and Health Administration (SHA) safety and hygiene certification scheme, the information-sharing webinars, ongoing market research to identify potential source market and demographic segments, and especially the recent focus on reviving domestic tourism following the easing of the lockdowns.
“Nothing is going to be the same again,” Mr Tanes said. “Even consumer behaviour will change entirely.”
However, one key target segment would be the health and wellness sector, he said.
Mr Tanes said that the TAT is hoping to see a resumption of international flights soon. If that happens, it is possible that some short-haul tourism from the neighbouring countries could restart by the end of this year.
He also noted that, in his opinion, one very important plus point was that the country’s “Amazing Thailand” brand image remained strong, bolstered by the positive publicity being generated by the success in keeping the pandemic under control.
“We will come back,” Mr Tanes said. “As soon as the international flights are restored, the entire industry will follow with special offers and deals.”
The other panellists agreed that it would be a long and difficult recovery period, especially under the new health and safety restrictions faced across the entire travel process; such as monitoring, certification, and possible quarantine on either one or both sectors of the journey.
Mr Varong cited the challenge of having to ground the Bangkok Airways’ entire fleet of 40 aircraft during the period of the aviation restrictions.
Mrs Marisa said the entire Thai hotel sector had been heavily impacted, especially the small- and medium-sized hotels. She thanked Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha for his personal visit to the Thai Hotels Association (THA) headquarters and his prompt action of some of the items on the assistance wish-list presented to him by the THA.
Mr Marshall noted that the Minor Group had 550 hotels across multiple brands worldwide, including 56 in Thailand.
Nearly all of them had to be shut down during this period but were now slowly reopening again.
He said all the staff had been temporarily laid-off and those who were retained had to take salary cuts. Ms Jeninne Lee-St. John, Editor-in-Chief, Travel & Leisure Southeast Asia, talked of the global impact but noted that travel was a resilient industry and would bounce back, as it had after many previous crises. She forecast that the health and wellness sector would be one of the first to come back, the TAT said in its report.
