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| Thai tourism to be further impacted by SARS |
| CCTV.COM 2003-04-24 14:04:29 |
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The worst impact of SARS is yet to come for Thailand's hard－hit tourism as more Japanese would cancel their trip to the kingdom, local press reported on Thursday.
Representatives from Japanese travel agencies predicted the number of Japanese tourists was likely to drop further in May before recovering in June, The Nation newspaper said.
Eight representatives from Japanese travel agencies on Wednesday met with Thailand's Tourism and Sports Minister Sontaya Kunplome to discuss the impact of SARS on the tourism sector.
"It will bottom in May, and the recovery won't come until June," Ken Uozumi, general manager of Nippon Travel Agency, was quoted as saying, adding the number of Japanese tourists is likely to drop by 50 percent in April.
Turismo Thai, one of the largest inbound tour operators, had lost 50 percent business in April, according to its Assistant Managing Director Ekasith Jothikasthira.
He expected the business in May to drop at least 60 percent mainly due to the outbreak of SARS.
The eight Japanese agencies bring in about 80 percent of all Japanese tourist arrivals in Thailand, the newspaper said.
Japan is the most important market for Thailand's tourism sector as the average expenditure of Japanese tourists in Thailand is 7,000 baht （about 167 US dollars）, higher than that of tourists from many other nations.
Some 1.24 million Japanese tourists visited Thailand in 2002, representing the second largest visitor group to Thailand, according to the data provided by the Tourism Authority of Thailand （TAT）.
Thailand's tourism sector has suffered a great deal from the outbreak of SARS. The Thai Travel Agents Association predicted 50 outbound tour operators would close if the crisis prolonged, and the TAT asked for an extra budget of 3.6 billion baht （857 milliondollars） to promote tourism.
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Editor: Yang Feiyang Source:Xinhua
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