A recent crisis in tourism in Thailand Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

A recent crisis in tourism in Thailand - Essay Example optic of discussion in this paper is Thailand as the second largest player in the tourism sector in the region and one of the top 30 destinations in the globe both in in take away and direct contri besidesor to GDP and in absolute terms. In 2010, 15.8m distant tourists visited Thailand. However, the arrival of the foreign tourist sharp autumnd by 12.9% in May 2010 as contrasted the corresponding period in 2009. In the last two decades, Thailand had witnessed one after other worst crisis. The decline in numbers in 2010 was due to long-term street protests in Bangkok that dispirited the foreign tourists. In the fag end of the year 2011, Thailand met with another crisis unprecedented flood, which devastated its economy and tourism sector. Thailand has been regarded as one of the South-East Asias largest economies and has been reckoned as one of the regions preferred destination for investments. In the background of global spa ring downturn and political turbulence it witnessed in 2010, the country is slowly recovering on strong phases. While the tourism industry prolongs to contribute a major(ip)(ip) part of its export revenues and is set for further growth in 2012 as well and there has been a visible increase in its export revenues but in the fag end of the year 2011, Thailand met with another crisis unprecedented flood, which devastated its economy and tourism sector. Tourism has been regarded as one of the largest sectors of the Thailands economy and a major foreign-currency earner.... (Oxford Publishing Group, 2009, p.131). This research essay will analyse the various crises witnessed by the Thais tourism industry and recent havoc flood in 2011 and how it has impacted the tourist industry of Thailand and suggest means to devise suitable strategies to mitigate the future crises from impacting the Thailands tourists industry. Analysis In 2010, 15.8m foreign tourists visited Thailand. However, the arri val of the foreign tourist sharply declined by 12.9% in May 2010 as contrasted the corresponding period in 2009. The decline in numbers in 2010 was due to long-run street protests in Bangkok that dispirited the foreign tourists. As WTTC report 2011, tourism industry directly contributed BT 617.7bn or 5.8% of its economy. (Oxford Publishing Group, 2011). If one look at the above graph, Thailands economy had performed since Q4/2008 moderately when compared neighbouring nations like Hong Kong and Singapore but its performance was poor as compared to Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia. (Jitsuchon & Patanarangsun, 2009, p.2). The number of foreign tourist visited Thailand was at its head in January 2008 but dipped to very low level in 2009. Despite the fact that the Thailands very positive future outlook for long-run growth , both 2008 , 2009 and 2011 were the toughest years for the Thais tourism industry due to political turmoil that occurred both in Pattaya and in Bangkok in April 20 09 and devastating floods in 2011. (Jitsuchon & Patanarangsun, 2009, p.6). WTTCs benchmark estimations of Thailands tourism effect on its economy which has taken account of the wider input of tourism both indirect and direct across all sections. Hence, it is estimated that the tourist industrys net contribution to Thailands