S’porean tourists flock to Thailand despite recent blasts
In this Dec 31, 2015, photo, visitors walk on the beach in the resort town of Hua Hin, 240km south of Bangkok, Thailand. Photo: AP
SINGAPORE — Ms Jane Ng is in Bangkok on holiday. The 55-year-old Singaporean has just checked into a city hotel with three of her friends.
“We are having a great time! Everything looks normal except for the tight security checks at the hotel, car parks and at several places. We have been asked to check in early at the airport due to expected extra time required for enhanced security checks,” she told TODAY on Monday (Aug 15).
Singaporeans, for the most part, are not putting off their plans to travel to Thailand despite the recent spate of bombings across various provinces at the tourist haven. The blasts prompted the nation’s Tourism Authority to warn on Monday (Aug 15) of potential revenue losses of up to 10.2 billion baht (S$396 million).
“The bomb blasts in Phuket, Hua Hin and other major tourist destinations last week could affect the tourism sector in the short term, but it should quickly recover once the situation stabilises,” said UOB analyst Manop Udomkerdmongkol.
Major travel agencies in Singapore said they have not received requests for cancellations of tours to Thailand, adding they do not expect a major impact on future bookings. With airlines and hotels beefing up promotions ahead of the lean season, Singaporeans are unlikely to dump their favourite holiday destination. Singapore-Bangkok return air tickets, for instance, are available at less than S$90 on specific dates.
“While we haven’t seen any trip cancellations as such, we know for a fact that airlines and hotels will jump in with attractive promotions should there be any slowdown in demand and travellers will be lured back to the popular Thai hot spots,” said Ms Alicia Seah, director of public relations and communications at Dynasty Travel. “After all, Thailand is an evergreen tourist destination. It is very popular among Singaporeans. Moreover, it has been resilient and has this ability to quickly bounce after such events.”
Likewise, Chan Brothers Travel has not received cancellation requests from customers scheduled to head to Thailand over the next fortnight. But it said that a group of six travellers opted to travel to Bangkok instead of Hua Hin as originally planned.
Meanwhile, airlines have not made any major changes in their flight operations to Thailand. “As Bangkok is a resilient market and continues to be one of the more popular destinations within South-east Asia for travellers in and out of Singapore, our bookings for the next few months continue to be strong,” said Mr Robin Goh, spokesperson for Jetstar Airways, which currently operates up to 50 weekly services from Singapore to Thailand. “Our flights to Bangkok are operating as scheduled.”
A spokesperson at Scoot-Tigerair said: “There has not been a discernible increase in cancellations ... Both airlines (Scoot and Tigerair) have regular weekly promotions that may feature Thailand destinations.”
While keeping to their travel plans to Thailand, Singaporeans are taking more precautions, such as avoiding large gatherings, buying travel insurance and registering with Ministry of Foreign Affairs to facilitate contact in the event of an emergency.
“We remind our travellers constantly to remain vigilant and, where possible, avoid crowded places and public gatherings,” said Ms Jane Chang, head of marketing communications at Chan Brothers.
Tourism accounts for about 10 per cent of the Thai economy. Buoyed by the tourism sector as well as higher government and household spending, Thailand’s economy expanded 0.8 per cent in the second quarter this year from the previous three months. From a year earlier, the second-quarter growth was 3.5 per cent, the fastest in 13 quarters, Thailand’s National Economic and Social Development Board said on Monday.
