How did Thailand's tourism recover?

From the perspective of outbound travel routes, Southeast Asian countries, led by Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, are still the most popular overseas destinations for China tourists. Thai airport officials said recently that since June 8th, about 16 10000 China tourists have visited Thailand, and it is estimated that by August this year, this number is expected to exceed 10000.

However, after three years' absence, when a large number of China people poured into Southeast Asia again, they all felt that "New Matai is not so interesting" and "Thailand is not what it was three years ago".

"I spent more than three times as much money in Thailand this year, and I may reduce the number of trips in the future.

China tourist Arel said.

The cost of traveling to Thailand is three times that of three years ago.

Due to the increase in flight supply, the current air ticket price in Southeast Asia has dropped slightly, but it is still at a high level compared with before 2020. However, this still can't stop China tourists from flocking to Southeast Asia.

After three years of disobedience, Xinmatai is no longer the price/performance ratio in the impression.

"When I first arrived in Thailand, I spent almost 1000 yuan. Is the price in Thailand so expensive? " Tommy, a tourist from China, said that he spent 2,200 baht on visa fees, 700 baht on phone cards, 500 baht on taxis, 600 baht on pineapple fried rice and winter yin gong fees, totaling 4,000 baht (1 baht is about 0. 196 RMB, equivalent to about 800 yuan). Tommy laughed at himself. "The epidemic has been going on for three years, and my income has not caught up with the price increase in Thailand!"

Tommy said that taxi fares in Thailand have gone up a lot now, and parking on the roadside is optional. The starting price of motorcycles, tuk-tuk cars and taxis is 200 baht (about RMB 40 yuan). After asking the local people, Tommy switched to taxi software. "It took 500 baht to land from the airport to the hotel on the first day, and later it took less than 200 baht to return with taxi software."

However, Tommy also said that the mainstream taxi software in Thailand is not convenient to use. Often, no driver is willing to take a ticket with an estimated cost of less than 100 baht, and even fewer taxis accept taxi charges.

As the "big head" of tourism consumption, the accommodation cost in Thailand has also increased significantly. Arel, who traveled to Thailand almost every year during the Spring Festival peak season before the outbreak, told Time Finance that she used to stay at the Hilton Hotel in Chiang Mai for four or five hundred yuan a night. This year, the price rose to 1.5 million yuan. "All aspects of consumption have indeed risen."

Take arel as an example. In the past, freshly squeezed juice on the roadside only cost 10 ~ 20 baht (about 2~4 yuan RMB), but this year it needs 60 baht (about 12 yuan RMB), which is similar to first-and second-tier cities in China. "The restaurants I used to go to have more or less increased their prices, and some have closed. The owner of a small restaurant I often go to said that China people have not come to travel in recent years, and their peers can't hold on. "

Wang Xin, who likes diving and sea fishing, also found that the price of going to sea in Thailand has doubled now. Arel said that in the past, they rented a boat for about 30,000 baht (about 6,000 RMB). "This year is too expensive. The boss quoted 6,543,800 baht (about 20,000 RMB). In the end, we had to choose to go to sea with the sea fishing group. "

"It cost more than three times to go to Thailand this year." Arel lamented that I used to travel to Thailand because of its close geographical location and high cost performance. "It's much more expensive now. If Thailand has no price advantage, I will reduce the number of trips to Thailand or move to other places. "

In 20 19, China had 1 1 10,000 tourists flooding into Thailand, which was the largest tourist source in Thailand's tourism market. According to the recent forecast of Thailand National Tourism Administration, Thailand will receive 30 million international tourists in 2023, including 7 million to 8 million tourists from China.

Not only Thailand, but also Singapore, Malaysia, Maldives and other countries that used to be very popular with China tourists have seen an increase in tourism consumption.

Foreign Chinese tour guides change careers, and the quotations of tourism products come and go.

"It is an indisputable fact that the price of tourism is higher now than three years ago." Many people in the tourism industry are not surprised by the price increase of products.

According to the data of Tongcheng Research Institute, the overall average price of group tour products has increased significantly compared with that before the epidemic, with an increase of about 30%.

Yang Yang, general manager of Beijing Spring and Autumn Tourism, pointed out that the main reason affecting the price of outbound travel is still the supply of flights. Although international routes have recovered to about 15% before the epidemic since mid-February, there is still not much flight capacity to serve tour groups. "For example, there were two flights to Bangkok the day before, and now there is only one flight a week, so the itinerary of the tour group may be extended from five or six days to seven or eight days, and the total cost of accommodation and food will rise."

In addition, Yang Yang pointed out that after three years of epidemic, the overseas reception system for tourists in China has actually disappeared and needs to be rebuilt. For example, many local Chinese tour guides in Thailand have switched careers or returned to China, and Chinese-served shopping malls, restaurants and other facilities are also facing closure or incomplete opening, which in itself has correspondingly pushed up costs.

In fact, in June 5438+1October 65438+February this year, the Tourism Authority of Thailand pointed out that due to the shortage of the market, the price of Thai tourism products targeted at China tourists increased by 20% on average compared with that before the epidemic. In addition, on February 14, Thailand announced that it would levy entry fees on foreign tourists from June.

When domestic tourism enterprises approached overseas suppliers and land agencies, they also found the increase in product quotations.

Jia, CEO of "Six-person Tour", an outbound customized tour company, said that in contact with suppliers from Southeast Asian countries, the costs of accommodation, transportation and tour guides have all increased to varying degrees. For example, the ground connection has increased by 5% in Thailand and 20% in Singapore.

"During the epidemic, the global tourism market is unstable, and all aspects of tourism also hope to make up for the losses during the epidemic by raising prices after opening up."

In addition to external reasons, Jia believes that because the domestic tourism market has not yet fully recovered, overseas suppliers will also wait and see the market and be short of manpower in the short term. "The land agency does not dare to expand the team at once, fearing that the market will be unstable in the future and the cost will naturally be high."

Yang Yang also pointed out that at present, China tourists' outbound travel has not formed scale effect, and everything is slowly being rebuilt and restored. Therefore, there are not many suppliers who can choose the optimal cost, and they have not yet reached the optimal process and cost.

It is worth mentioning that, in addition to the changes in the tourism market itself, consumption cost's climb is also related to the local price increase. Since last year, Thailand's prices have continued to rise due to the rising global energy prices and the shortage of raw materials caused by the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In June of that year, the inflation rate rose to the highest since 14.

"In recent years, global floods and high prices have affected markets including Europe, America and Southeast Asia." Yang Yang said.

However, according to the latest data of Thailand, its inflation rate in June 2023 was the lowest level in nine months. As the global energy price situation has eased compared with 2022, the inflation rate may further improve in the future.

Taking all factors into consideration, Yang Yang said frankly that it will take at least half a year or even one to two years for the Southeast Asian tourism market to reach the original level of tourism supply from reconstruction to real recovery.