Thailand Tourism Moving Back to Normal After Tsunami

Thailand is confident of grabbing a record number of tourists this year, with business returning to normal in resort areas devastated by last year´s tsunami, an official said Wednesday.

“The next few months will be our high-peak season,” said Phornsiri Manoharn, the Tourism Authority of Thailand´s deputy governor for international marketing. “We feel certain we will meet our target of 13.4 million visitors. Thailand is back to normal and we are ready to welcome the world,” she said.

Thailand chalked up 11.6 million foreign visitors in 2004, up 16.5 percent from the previous year. But, she said, the tsunami in late December “significantly hurt tourism” in early 2005, especially in the Andaman Sea resorts that include Phuket, one of the worst-hit areas.

However, she said arrival figures have picked up in recent months. International visitors at the Bangkok International Airport alone tabbed 5.4 million visitors between January and August, up 2.9 percent from the same period last year.

Fewer tourists from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and South Korea are visiting Phuket because many of them “are afraid to have vacations in places where they believe there are spirits wandering,” said Peter de Jong, the travel association´s president.

Hotel occupancy in Thai destinations is projected to range between 70 percent and 80 percent for the final three months of 2005, helped by cultural festivals and new attractions, such as a night safari animal park in Chiang Mai and Asia´s largest seaquarium in Bangkok.

Thailand´s visitors mainly come from Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Britain, the United States, Taiwan and Germany.