The head of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Phornsiri Manoharn, estimates the eight-day closure of Bangkok’s $4 billion Suvarnabhumi airport by antigovernment protesters a month ago will have caused one million foreign visitors to cancel trips or go elsewhere.
“This is the hardest hit we’ve ever encountered in the 48 years we’ve been promoting tourism to Thailand,” she said. And that’s after the country suffered through the December 2004 tsunami, bird flu and SARS.
With arrival numbers for December likely to be 500,000 — a third of forecasts — the Tourism Authority’s goal of attracting 15.5 million tourists in 2008 and 16 million in 2009 is in tatters.
Far from the 70 percent occupancy they normally see in December, Bangkok’s top hotels are 25 percent full, forcing management to close floors, lay off contractors and ask employees to take unpaid leave.
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Saturday, December 27, 2008