Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) Governor Yuthasak Supasorn has expressed gratitude to thousands of tourists for their sustained confidence in Thailand following untoward incidents earlier this month.
He thanked the private sector for their shows of unity in the face of the adverse situation. “We would like to thank everyone in the tourism sector who has contributed to the revival of Thailand’s tourism. This includes the tourists from around the world who keep coming to our destinations as well as both the private and public sectors who have helped restore the situation back to normal in a short period of time.”
Visitor arrivals immediately after the bombings in various southern spots indicated just a small percentage drop, which lasted exactly a week. As of 19 August, arrivals began to increase again. The arrivals are expected to fluctuate over the next few days and to return to a steady growth by September. The TAT was optimistic that the projected arrivals of 33 million visitors throughout this year can be met.
Mr. Yuthasak credited several factors for the minimal adverse impact and cited the positive force of social media as playing a large role.
“It is obvious that visitors no longer just rely on mainstream TV news and print media for information. Social media networks can also be used effectively to provide accurate and updated news,” he added.
“We did well via our in-house crisis management channels at TAT. I am happy to report that our private sector, which has a very high stake in warding off cancellations, also did a good job. Thousands of visitors who were in Thailand at the time of the untoward incidents were able to make use of their own social media channels to communicate.”
He noted that all the recovery campaigns would remain in place, especially those targeted at women visitors for this month to mark the auspicious 84th birthday anniversary of Her Majesty Queen Sirikit.
“We look forward to communicating a strong ‘business-as-usual message’ at all international travel trade events for the rest of the year. And once more, we thank all our visitors, security units and the private sector for their support and confidence in Thailand.”
