Thai tourism operators warn New Year targets unlikely to be met

Thai tourism operators have warned 2006 targets are unlikely to be met after the government cut its tourism arrivals projections to 13.6 million people from an original 15 million.

Tourism Authority of Thailand officials said they were optimistic foreigners would return after a year hit by fallout from the 2004 tsunami, high oil prices, avian influenza scares and violence in the southern provinces.

The authority's governor, Juthamas Siriwan, recently said arrivals had rebounded from the tsunami's impact and added her agency was on track to meets its arrivals target, barring "uncontrollable factors".

But as arrivals in 2005 fell short of the targeted 13 million to 12.1 million to late December, resulting in revenue of 450 billion baht (11 billion dollars), the private sector remains skeptical about the new target. "Tourist arrivals could reach 13 million in 2006 at best, or approximately a 12.0 per cent increase from last year," Apichart Sankary, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) told the news agency.

Apichart said his association estimated just 11.5 million tourists visited Thailand last year, while arrivals in 2006 could be hit by oil prices, which could push tourism package prices up by 12.0 per cent.

During the current peak tourism season, oil prices are trading at between 60 and 65 dollars a barrel, against the 30 dollars a barrel during the same period last year.

The prices -- and the resulting extra charges airlines pass on to passengers through higher ticket prices and fuel surcharges -- puts pressure on potential tourists, particularly those flying long-haul routes from Europe, he said.

Bangkok also needed to solve the unrest in Thailand's three southernmost provinces -- where more than 1,000 people have been killed in almost two years of violence -- because tourists had safety fears, Apichart added.

Tourism along Thailand's tsunami-battered Andaman coast had rebounded significantly in recent months, with hotel occupancy along the southwestern provinces between 60 and 70 per cent.

Occupancy in the provinces -- notably Krabi, Phuket and Phang Nga, the latter where most of the 5,395 deaths of Thais and foreigners occurred -- was as low was 10 to 30 per cent in January and February.

Apichart said the Andaman coastal provinces generated as much as a third of Thailand's total tourism revenue.