The Best Of Thailand | Travel in Thailand with Ashley

Why are the big travel brands in India loosing out in volumes to Thailand ?

 

 

A big MICE player in India says this...

"Expect more....100000 Customers – 58 Offices - 120 dedicated staff – catering to over 800 corporates in a year. All you have to do is decide where you want your employees or business partners to go for a travel incentive scheme. And we’ll take care of every other tedious detail. From travel to staying to launching your product, everything. And since we are the No.1 in the category, our buying clout will get you the best possible deals."

Really? Virtually every MICE movement I see them or any other big travel brand operate has problems and unkept promises with resulting unhappy customers. Maybe that's why the number of customers has to be so many that your shareholders don't realise what's really going on.,

Marketing pitches are finely tuned to resonate with the audience in mind. Too often, though, the marketer is only in charge of the pitch, and someone else in the organization has to make the thing.

So the marketer brags about how he is going to get the early check in free of charge from the hotel, or how tasety the food is going to be with four vegetarian snacks and four non vegetarian ones or how magically transporting the guides of the local Destination Management Company are--and then someone else, someone under different pressures and constraints--has to deliver. And they rarely do.

They rarely do because the paying customer isn't their customer. Their customer is the quality control department, the accounting department and the "don't-rock-the-boat" department.

Marketers need to spend less time making promises and more time keeping them.

Pattaya's Hard Rock Hotel wears a totally new upmarket look

 

If you used to associate the Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya with just the Beach Foam X party, think again!

I was very surprised upon walking into the Hard Rock Hotel to find that the 15 month renovation has resulted in a very good upmarket product. The lobby looks posh and cosy if a little boutique as they have taken a large section of the former lobby to create a new lounge. 

The rooms too wear a very plush look with a colour scheme which is almost corporate. 

 

 

Worth checking out on your next leisure trip or MICE trip to Pattaya!

 

Thailand being dropped during peak Indian summer season from tour operator's programs

During a sales visit to a niche tour operator in Mumbai today, I learned that they have dropped Thailand from their programs during the summer peak season in favour of more profitable destinations like South Africa, Europe and New Zealand because there was just too much unhealthy competiton.  This operator had daily groups operating to South Africa from the middle of April until the middle of June. 

The owner candidly admitted to me that it is not worth doing Thailand during the peak season as airlines raise prices to Thailand, staff have the same stress that they would have doing South Africa or Europe for far too little money. Clients too have a mindset to bargain and the hassle made it just not worth it. 

Come off season though and they begin doing Thailand again as staff bandwidth is freed up. 

I hope this is not a trend that is picked up by mainstream operators !

 

 

Here is an interesting way to spend the day in Krabi for MICE planners

Hotel Tropicana Pattaya located on Beach Road opens as a 4 star hotel after a complete refurbishment

Located right next to the Hard Rock Hotel Pattaya is the Tropicana Hotel.  The location right in the heart of Pattaya's famous strip puts you within striking distance of the nightlife and shopping of Pattaya.

With 184 rooms and suites in the Cabana and Main Wings, this 4 star Hotel is reminiscent of a bygone era with its large lobby, its extensive grounds and its two beautiful swimming pools. 

Large lobby

The rooms are surrounded by tropical gardens, within easy access to the lap pool, located on the eastern side of the hotel.

Superior Cabana room

Bathroom of Cabana room

Large grounds

The hotel also has a conference room that can accommodate about 60 pax. 

 

Bangkok's Don Muang airport reopens on 6th March after the floods

Bangkok's second airport will open tomorrow after months of being shut down on account of the floods. Nok Air will begin the operation of its flights from this terminal tomorrow. Orient Thai has not announced yet if it would shift back to this facility. 

Thai airways new budget airline "Thai Smile" will also use Don Muang as its base from the middle of this year. 

Don Muang also houses Bangkok's jet terminal. 

 

The relatively undeveloped island of Koh Samet is just a hop skip and a jump away from Pattaya

 

 

 

 

 

Which are Thailand's Top 5 markets in 2011 and how is their composition changing since 2009?

Malaysia has consistently been Thailand's No. 1 source market over the years and produces just over 2 million arrivals to Thailand annually. 

China has overtaken Japan since 2010 to become Thailand's No. 2 source market with just over 1 million tourist arrivals annually. This market grew at a scorching 44 % 2010/2009 and 69% 2011/2010.

Japan lost its No. 2 position and is presently Thailand's No. 3 market. In 2009 it used to produce just over 1 million arrivals and is now in the same neighbourhood.

South Korea is Thailand's No. 4 market and has risen from the ranks from No. 8 position in 2009 to No. 5 position in 2010. It had been growing 30% year on year until 2011 where it grew 40%. 

India is Thailand's No. 5 market and has also risen from the ranks from No. 9 position in 2009 to No. 6 position in 2010. It growth has been picking up speed from 14% in 2009 to 23% in 2010 to 35% in 2011.

The growth of these 5 markets is coming at the cost of traditional markets like Germany, the UK and the USA.  Germany which used to be Thailand's No. 10 market in 2009 does not feature in the top 10 anymore.  

The US which used to be No. 7 in 2009 slipped to No. 10 in 2010 where it remained in 2011. 

The UK which used to be No. 3 in 2009 slipped to No. 4 in 2010 and No. 7 in 2011. 

Is it a surprise that Thailand's top 5 markets are all Asian ?  

 

 

How to position yourself in Thailand's tourism industry in 2012!

The land of smiles looks to 2012 with optimism. Now that the flood waters have at last receded with Ayuthaya's floating market reopening and business looks like it is coming back albeit slower than in the past, what do we have to look forward to tourism wise in the year ahead ?

Visitor arrivals from overseas toppped the 17 million mark at the end of November and was expected to rise to 18.5 million for the year 2011. There is always a time lag for statistics from the authorities so we will have to take that as achieved for now. 

Last year the number topped 15.8 million despite an intense political crises in Bangkok.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has forecasted 2012 numbers of 19.6 million. This looks achievable though the patterns may not mirror the patterns of past years and the markets may not be the same. 

I had blogged about this before and I think it still holds true, so I will say it again.  Well, don't you think that it is about time that we accept the reality that business in Thailand is not year round any more but we need to take two months out of the budgets as enforced vacation for "Thailand's annual crisis."  We don't as yet know what form it will take in 2012 but if we budget for this, it would take a lot of stress off the top management and owners of tourism related businesses who can then look to moonlight in other fields or countries depending upon their opportunities and inclinations. 

The thing about "Thailand's annual crisis" is that the tourists are not put off by this any more.   Along with how most tourists check weather, hotel availability, they just check whether the malls and nightspots are open or  closed and if open, they hop onto a flight for Bangkok.  The business therefore rebounds very fast...so fast that some agents are almost caught in the riptide and mistakenly ask for low prices when hotel room availability is the issue. 

I know business owners might scoff at the idea but then this kind of exercise might also help them to deal in a more prepared manner with " the annual crisis".

I also think that the Chinese New Year may not be happening the way it was in previous years. This means opportunity to maximise sales for markets such as the Indian  sub continent who can produce business at short notice.  A Bangkok University poll showed that 87.6% of international tourists interviewed said recent floods had not dented their confidence in Thailand. What is denting the confidence of the Indian sub continent's market is the weakness of their own currency...the Indian Rupee. This means that there might be a shift from leisure group travel there to MICE and FIT travel.  The subcontinent produced a million tourists in 2011. This figure will continue to grow at least at 15%  in 2012. 

We will witness the rise in popularity of new Hotel chains such as Anantara, the consolidation of others  and the decline of yet others in the market as ideas and trends explode and hoteliers move to greener pastures. I see the number of hotels continuing to explode across Thailand as rich people continue to build monuments to glorify their families as their ancestors frown upon their extravagances. But this is set to continue. It may take a boutique or niche form but form it is guaranteed to take. This can only be good news for consumers as unhealthy competition keeps prices down. 

The Asia Pacific (APAC) travel market was the fastest-growing region worldwide, overtaking the U.S. to become the second-largest regional market after Europe. Yet the APAC market is by no means uniform, with growth trends and online penetration varying by country. Thailand has a long way to go in the area of online travel so development here could be rapid should the conditions be right.  So it may be a great idea to think yourself an online or an e commerce strategy for your business. 

I see Europe continuing to struggle and America decline while regional markets continuing to grow for Thailand, replacing longer haul markets slowly but surely.  

The Pattaya Jet Ski Scam in Pictures | Thailand Land of Smiles

via thailandlandofsmiles.com

I know that jet ski scams have become a big problem for Pattaya. Read this article carefully before you decide to hire a jet ski in Pattaya. The same applies to Motorcycle rentals of big bikes in Pattaya.