Thailand

Market Overview Although Thailand is a relatively small market, there has been strong interest among travellers in independent and self-drive holidays. New Zealand is also a popular choice for Thai incentive groups, helping boost visitor numbers from this market outside of the peak season.

Just over 18,000 visitors travelled from Thailand to New Zealand in the year ending November 2008. This was a decrease of around 10 per cent on the previous year.

Outlook

The global financial crisis and political turmoil in Thailand have seen consumers begin to tighten their belts and cut down on spending on long-haul travel. GDP growth is expected to slow to an average of 3.0 to 4.0 per cent from 2009 to 2013, down from an annual average of 5.1 per cent from 2004 to 2008.

Travel sellers and airlines reported demand in the October school holidays dropped significantly for all destinations out of Thailand.

The next three to four months will see a mixed result in monthly visitor arrivals. The outbound tourist market is generally expected to decline due to the gloomy economic climate and the recent political chaos affecting long-haul holiday plans.

The current political situation has been alleviated, with British-born Democrat Abhisit Vejjajiva elected as prime minister in December. The country continues to face economic and political challenges, but some key industry executives expect Thai outbound travel will rebound as the political situation settles, because of the country’s good economic fundamentals.

Some outbound incentive groups to New Zealand (about 400 of 880 people) were forced to postpone their trips due to the recent Bangkok airport closure and will now travel in February-March 2009.

There will also be an increase in the availability of airline seats to New Zealand in December, due to passengers from other long-haul markets cancelling travel.

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