daily economic news
2023-03-25 08:17:05
Edited by Du Yu
Recently, topics related to the price and safety of “Thailand tourism” have been frequently searched.
On March 24, a number of travel agencies told The Paper that there were basically no cancellations of orders related to Thailand destinations. However, some travel agency insiders said that although no cancellations have been received yet, the number of bookings has decreased. “Relevant false remarks are likely to have a great negative impact on tourism sentiment.” The person said, “In fact, we have traveled to Thailand many times since the opening, and it is safe to go to regular attractions and restaurants.”
In response to the recent topic of “Thailand is too expensive to afford to go”, relevant people from Ctrip said that since the “Class B and B tubes”,The price of outbound travel has actually been gradually falling。
In fact, as of now, Thailand is still one of the most popular destination countries for domestic outbound travel. Mafengwo big data shows that as of March 23, Thailand is the overseas destination with the highest order volume during the May Day holiday.In the past week, the popularity of tourism has increased by 150%.
4 Thai police officersKidnapped Chinese 3 arrested, 1 at large
According to New Yellow River, on March 21, a “3 Thai police officers arrested for kidnapping Chinese man: another accomplice is at large“The news has attracted much attention.
According to the report, the Thai local police arrested three immigration officers. Previously,A Thai woman accused them of kidnapping a Chinese man and extorting 1 million baht (about 200,000 yuan). The other police officer involved is currently at large. The woman accused six police officers of abducting her and her Chinese employer on March 10. After negotiation,Mr. Qi’s son transferred about 1 million baht to these people, and Mr. Qi was released。
After investigation,The police confirmed that 4 police officers were involved in the crime, including a major, 2 lieutenants and a senior sergeant. Reports say that despite ample evidence and victim statements,3 accused police officers still plead not guilty。
General Surachet, the deputy chief of the Thai National Police, recently pointed out that he had applied to the court for arrest warrants for the four immigration officers involved in the kidnapping of the Chinese man.In terms of disciplinary action, the National Police Headquarters will directly expel, and the criminal aspect will be dealt with by the procuratorate according to law。
He pointed out that this is not the first time that immigration police have violated the law. In his view, the actions of the police are now under the supervision of the public. If they are found to have violated the law and there is sufficient evidence, they must be dealt with according to the law and will not be tolerated.
Thai embassy in China: attaches great importance to the quality and safety of Chinese tourists’ tourism and fully safeguards it
On March 23, the Thai embassy in China issued a document to clarify the content and comments about unsafe tourism. The Thai embassy in China stated that Thailand attaches great importance to the quality and safety of Chinese tourists and their good impression of Thailand, and fully understands tourists’ concerns about safety issues. Relevant agencies in Thailand attach great importance to this issue, and will also take corresponding measures to fully protect it. And ensure the safety of tourists.
Traveling to Thailand costs three times more than it did two years ago
On March 20, the topic “#Thailand is really too expensive to afford to go” appeared on the hot search. Fierce inflation, skyrocketing prices,The price of a trip to Thailand is more than three times higher than it was two years ago. Coupled with the impact of the epidemic, the local tourism industry is still in the stage of gradual recovery. The influx of a large number of tourists in a short period of time has pushed up demand, and prices have skyrocketed.
According to related reports, some Chinese tourists visited Thailand after three years of absence this year and found thatNot only the air ticket prices are high, but the taxi fares, accommodation expenses, and catering expenses after landing have all risen sharply, and the expenses for diving, sea fishing, etc. have doubled。
Some netizens said directly: Thailand is no longer a place where you can travel poorly.
According to an upstream news report on March 14, after a three-year absence, when a large number of Chinese people flooded into Southeast Asia again, they lamented that “New Malaysia and Thailand are not so fun anymore” and “Thailand is no longer the Thailand it was three years ago.” “This year, I spent more than three times the amount of money I used to go to Thailand, and I may reduce the number of trips in the future.” Wang Xin, a Chinese tourist, said. Due to the increase in flight supply, air ticket prices in Southeast Asia have dropped slightly, but they are still at a high level compared to before 2020.
“I just landed in Thailand, and I spent almost 1,000 yuan. Is the price in Thailand so expensive?” Chinese tourist Li Meng said that after landing at the Thai airport, he spent 2,200 baht for visa fees, 700 baht for phone cards, 500 baht for taxis, and pineapple fried rice. And Tom Yum Kung 600 baht, a total of 4,000 baht (equivalent to about 800 yuan). Li Meng said that the cost of taxis in Thailand has risen a lot nowadays, and you can easily stop them by the side of the road.Whether it is a motorcycle, a tuk-tuk, or a taxi, the starting price is 200 baht (about 40 yuan), it cost 500 baht from the airport to the hotel on the first day. As the “big head” of tourism consumption, the cost of accommodation in Thailand has also risen considerably.
Image source: Visual China
Wang Xin, a frequent tourist in Thailand, said,In the past, staying at the Hilton Hotel in Chiang Mai cost four to five hundred yuan a night, but this year the price has risen to 1,500 yuan. “Consumption in all aspects has indeed gone up.” Wang Xin gave an example,In the past, freshly squeezed juice on the roadside only cost 10-20 baht (about 2-4 yuan), but this year it will cost 60 baht (about 12 yuan)。
Wang Xin, who likes diving and sea fishing, found that the price of going to sea has also doubled. In the past, the price of chartering a boat was about 30,000 baht (about 6,000 yuan). “This year is too expensive. The owner of the boat quoted 100,000 baht (about 20,000 yuan), so we had to choose to go to sea with a sea fishing group.”
According to a report by the Securities Times on March 20, in terms of air tickets, some netizens also said on Weibo that the cost of a round-trip “Shanghai-Bangkok” air ticket to Thailand three years ago could be controlled within 2,000 yuan, but now it basically starts at 4,000 yuan. . The most cost-effective Thai Airways has a round-trip price of more than 3,000 yuan.
In addition, on Xiaohongshu, a post titled “Thailand is just an ordinary tourist area” has attracted the attention of many netizens.
Before this blogger went to Thailand, when he was doing a guide, he found that the quotations related to Thailand travel were all key words such as “2,000 yuan for a five-day group tour” and “2,500 yuan for free travel”. When I actually went to the local area for consumption, I realized that the prices were completely different.
He said, “Even if it is only three days and two nights, it is almost impossible to control the travel cost within 3,000 yuan. The electronic visa on arrival, hotel fees, and snorkeling and other travel tickets have already spent a total of about 8,000 yuan. “
The price of outbound travel has risen, why?
According to a report from the World Wide Web on March 14, during the recovery process of the outbound tourism market, tourism companies are also facing many challenges, one of which is that the high price of outbound tourism has caused consumers to be “daunted”. After consulting the data of multiple online travel platforms, the reporter found that with the approach of the May Day holiday, the air ticket prices of popular destinations including Thailand and Singapore have risen. Taking Beijing to and from Singapore as an example, the increase is close to 60%.
Senior observers in the tourism industry said that the price of outbound travel has risen,There are three main reasons: first, due to the sharp reduction of flights in recent years, the overall demand for air tickets on international routes exceeds the supply. Expenses are rising; the third is that most of the tour groups departing after the restart of outbound group tours are exquisite small groups of less than 20 people, and the per capita cost is also increasing.
According to Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Academy, as tourism demand soars in the future and the number of available seats for airlines increases year-on-year, the prices of travel products such as air tickets will naturally gradually return to normal. “In terms of the price of tourism products, we must pay attention to both the demand side and the supply side. We hope that the supply of airlines, cross-border self-driving tours, and small transportation, hotels, and catering at tourist destinations can be restored quickly or orderly. The supply can be plentiful.”
The price of air tickets for outbound travel has been gradually reduced
It is worth mentioning that, in response to the recent topic of “Thailand is too expensive to afford”, relevant people from Ctrip said that since the “Class B and B Regulations”, the price of outbound travel has actually been gradually declining. Taking air tickets as an example, on the Ctrip platform The average one-way price of an outbound air ticket in March was 2,124 yuan, a decrease of 51.5% compared with the same period last year. Chiang Mai was selected as the most affordable TOP3 destination among the popular booking destinations, and ranked in the TOP1 most affordable destination in Thailand, with an average one-way air ticket price of 1,632 Yuan.
Qunar data also shows that from March 1st to 20th, 2023, the number of air ticket bookings for international flights (including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) increased by 1.4 times compared with the same period in January 2023, and the average price paid for air tickets decreased by 7% month-on-month. The top 5 popular destinations are Bangkok, Hong Kong, Seoul, Kuala Lumpur, Macau.
A senior person in the tourism industry said: “Comparatively speaking, it is safer to apply for a group tour. After all, travel safety is the most basic guarantee for a travel agency group tour. If you choose to travel independently, you must not seek excitement or do not understand clearly. Go to the so-called ‘niche’ spots.”
“No cancellations yet, but bookings have decreased”
On March 24, a number of travel agencies told The Paper that there were basically no cancellations of orders related to Thailand destinations. A person from a travel agency told The Paper: “The impact on group travel has not been reflected, and the group will not go to strange places.” At the same time, many online travel platforms also said that they have not received relevant feedback for the time being. An insider on an online travel platform told The Paper: “The entire complaint about unsubscriptions caused by Thailand is currently at a single-digit level for hotels and holiday travel products.”
However, some travel agency insiders said that although no cancellations have been received yet, the number of bookings has decreased. “Relevant false remarks are likely to have a great negative impact on tourism sentiment.” The person said, “In fact, we have traveled to Thailand many times since the opening, and it is safe to go to regular attractions and restaurants.”
Recently, many bloggers of short video platforms have published content “Safety” in Thailand. A blogger said in a comment: “If you want to go abroad, you must pay attention to safety, raise your safety awareness, go together, and don’t trust any strangers.”
“May 1st” outbound travel, Thailand is still at the forefront
In fact, as of now, Thailand is still one of the most popular destination countries for domestic outbound travel, ranking among the top both in terms of search popularity and booking volume on various online travel platforms.
Mafengwo’s big data shows that in the past week, the popularity of “May Day outbound travel” on Mafengwo’s website has increased by more than 110%. Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, and Spain rank among the top five overseas destinations with the highest orders during the May Day holiday. As of March 23, Thailand was the overseas destination with the highest order volume during the “May Day” holiday, and the popularity of tourism has increased by 150% in the past week.
According to Ctrip data,Since the beginning of this year, the popularity of travel searches in Chiang Mai on the Ctrip platform has increased by more than 9 times year-on-year, Hotel bookings increased by more than 10 times. As of March 1, Thailand’s Bangkok and Phuket were among the top five destination cities for mainland outbound air ticket bookings during the “May 1” holiday this year; the top 10 cities for mainland outbound hotel bookings during the “May 1” holiday included Hong Kong, Pu Ji Island, Bangkok, Macau, Singapore, Tokyo, Koh Samui, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Bali, 5 of which are located in Thailand.
In addition, The Paper previously reported that on March 22, the high-end group in Phuket, Thailand, with a unit price of 6,399 yuan for the “May Day” holiday of Guangzhi under the Lingnan Business Travel Group, was full. The 19-member group was mostly “post-95” and “00” “After”, the itinerary is mostly experience-based, including speedboat sailing, catamaran sailing and sea fishing, checking in online celebrity buildings, local night markets, etc.
Daily Economic News Comprehensive Surging News, New Yellow River, Thai Embassy in China, Upstream News, World Wide Web, Every Economic Net
Cover image source:: Visual China