Thursday, August 28, 2008

China and India proposed as tourism focus

China and India proposed as tourism focus

Thai tourism entrepreneurs are being urged to tap more into visitors from China and India in a bid to offset the impact from surging oil prices and the economic slowdown expected for the united states and europe. Virabongsa Ramangura, head of the economic advisory team to the prime minister, said visitors from India and China have greater purchasing power given their countries' strong growth.

According to Dr Virabongsa, surging oil prices were becoming a key negative factor for the Thai tourism industry, as both domestic and foreign visitors are reluctant to travel because of high costs.

However, he said tourism would still play a key role to support economic growth this year, particularly now that the baht was weakening, which makes thailand more attractive to foreign spenders.

Phornsiri Manoharn, the governor to Tourism Authority of Thailand, said the agency had improved the marketing plan this year to focus more on China, India and the Middle East because they had shown high growth in the past years.

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