BANGKOK, 16 August 2012 – The Thai Tourism Council has revealed that business sentiment in the third quarter of this year has fallen slightly below average.
Chairman of Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) Kongkrit Hiranyakit said on Wednesday that that the travel business operators’ sentiment index in the third quarter of 2012 was at 92, which is lower than normal.
Mr. Kongkrit said that the slight drop in the sentiment reflected worries over local economic conditions and the trend of rising production and living costs in the country.
However, he said that travel business entrepreneurs still found some positive factors to shore up their confidence. They include the country’s more convenient travel experiences, improved PR activities, and continued development of tourist destinations.
He added that 47 percent of surveyed business operators believed that supportive state policies will effectively boost travelers’ demand, while 42 percent asked for state push to improve the reputation of Thailand’s travel industry.
In addition, 46 percent of people who answered the survey suggested that the private sector should be more informed about the goings-on, with another 40 percent calling for locals to take active part in the travel industry.
However, Mr. Kongkrit is concerned that there have been no clear-cut policies from the government in helping boost the country’s tourism revenue to 2 trillion baht by the year 2015.
