“Chinese tourists are everywhere”, “seeing people ordering dishes”, “starting prices on the ground”… After the resumption of outbound travel, Thailand, once a paradise for outbound travel in the eyes of some Chinese people, has become a destination that netizens say is “unaffordable”.
A reporter from “Daily Economic News” recently contacted two Thai tourism practitioners via WeChat and telephone to review the current real prices in Thailand. They are “Squid” (net name) who lives in Thailand and runs a homestay. Song Yan, head of a travel agency who sends 100 Chinese tourists to Thailand every day.
Judging from the feedback,20%~30% general price increaseIt has become the consensus among Thai locals. On this basis, the tourist cost of tourists will increase even more: the hotel sells the peak season price in the off-season,B&B and air ticket prices rise; The price of basic items such as group meals has been increased by 50%, so thatSay goodbye to the price range of less than 3,000 yuan for group tour products; Amusement items and price increases are basically the same, but project operators “re-increase prices” to foreign tourists on this basis also occasionally occur.
Looking back, it may be difficult for Thailand tours to return to the previous low prices. A large number of tourists from the United States and Europe, especially Russia, provide tourism demand. And the upcoming conference activities are also fueling the flames.
Rising energy prices push up prices generally by 20-30%
In February 2023, after three years, Song Yan set foot on the land of Thailand again.
Her affection for Thailand is very special. Song Yan works in Beijing Zhongxi International Travel Service Co., Ltd. as the chairman. In the more than 20 years of tourism work in Southeast Asia, she has traveled to Thailand several times, traveling between motorcycles and tuk-tuks, studying tourist routes, and inspecting restaurants and hotels.
In the 711 supermarket on the streets of Bangkok today, Song Yan inspected the mineral water, bread, and snacks on the shelves—the prices were obviously more expensive than she had imagined.
Stepping out of the store, there are still people on the road, but Song Yan always feels that the city in front of her is a little bit depressed compared to before the epidemic, especially because there are no Chinese tourists. In the evening, Song Yan, who was shopping at the night market, found that rising prices seemed to be a common phenomenon, which was about 20% to 30% higher than before the epidemic.now100 yuan(For the convenience of unified understanding, the converted RMB prices are used below)A box of giant shrimp，The locals are used to it too.
“Squid” runs the Mumu homestay on Airbnb. This Chinese girl, who used to be a travel magazine reporter, has been in Chiang Mai for almost 6 years. When she shuttles through the streets and alleys on a motorcycle and chats with stall owners, she looks like a local.
Squid told reporters that prices in Thailand have indeed risen by 20% to 30% compared to before, but not after the resumption of domestic outbound travel, nor for tourists, but a little increase over the past three years.
“The price of energy such as fuel, water and electricity is increasing, and the price of electricity has increased three rounds.Before the epidemic, a kilowatt-hour of electricity was 0.8 yuan to about 1 yuan now.It has risen by almost 30%. ’ recalled Squid.
It is also reported that Thailand’s average overall inflation in 2022 will increase by 6.08% year-on-year compared with 2021. The main growth factors include: the price of food and non-alcoholic beverages increased by 8.87% compared with the same period last year, and the price of energy-related products also increased by 14.62% compared with the same period last year.
However, the article reprinted on the website of the Ministry of Commerce also mentioned that compared with Thailand’s major trading countries, “Thailand’s inflation can be described as neither high nor low”: For example, in November 2022, Thailand’s inflation rose by 5.55% year-on-year, while the US inflation rate was 7.7% in the same period , 11.1% in the UK, 6.77% in India, 36.75% in Laos, 7.7% in the Philippines and 6.7% in Singapore.
Xiaohongshu blogger “An Qi Ai Meili” (hereinafter referred to as An Qi) also just returned from Bangkok. This is her first trip to Thailand after the epidemic. Angie is very familiar with Thailand. Since 2012, she has been there for about a week almost every year.
Angel’s conclusion is “Three years, there may be a small price increase, but it is not too expensive to afford.” The reporter noticed that when An Qi talked about the prices in Thailand, she did not compare before and after the epidemic, but unconsciously compared the domestic first-tier cities in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. In her opinion, among overseas tourist destinations, Thailand is a cost-effective choice.
As for the “slaughter” mentioned by some tourists, Squid said that it is indeed not ruled out that some businesses want to take advantage of the newly recovered boom to get back their money.For example, the more famous market in Chiang Mai before, inEarly stage of the epidemicWhen there are no tourists, only locals,A pair of pants sells for about 70 yuan; by mid-2022,When there are more tourists from Korea, Japan, Europe and the United States,It sold for more than 180 yuan.
This time in Bangkok, An Qi also noticed that at a fruit stall, the prices for locals and foreigners are different. But Angie believes that this should be an individual case, and basically the price is clearly marked in Thailand.
During the 8 days of live broadcasting in Bangkok and Pattaya, Song Yan also noticed that although the price was not too high, the price quoted by some Thai vendors to tourists/outsiders was indeed more expensive than to locals. some.
Tuk Tuk is a good example. For the same distance, Song Yan shared a tuk-tuk with a local friend in Thailand, and the driver charged 30 yuan. The next day, Song Yan called a taxi by herself, and the boss opened his mouth to ask for 50 yuan.
Song Yan’s view is that there may be cases in every city where the charges for locals and foreigners are different. “Thailand is a country with tourism as its main pillar industry. It is still difficult to completely eliminate the above-mentioned situation. Now I am afraid that the case will be enlarged and cause the rejection of tourists.”
Group tour products below 3,000 yuan are hard to find
In addition to basic necessities, has this “sacred place for outbound poor travel” in the eyes of tourists in the past, has the tourism expenditure and recreational items changed?
Squid told reporters that many independent tourists feel that Thailand has become more expensive, mainly because the two “big heads” of accommodation and air tickets have increased significantly. “Because I am in the hotel business, according to my observation, due to supply and demand factors, many hotels in Chiang Mai are increasing in price. Especially some hotels with higher star ratings and higher occupancy rates.”
“As for the price increase, what I can notice is that the prices of those popular hotels on Xiaohongshu and Instagram have increased by at least 50%.” Squid added, “It should be noted that it is still the first time for tourists to travel in Thailand. In the off-season, hotel prices have risen to the peak season price, which is equivalent to the peak season price in the off-season, so what about the peak season?”
There is a hotel that squid likes very much,The price before the epidemic was about 1,700 to 1,900 yuan a nightDuring the epidemic, the price was reduced to 1,200 to 1,300 yuan a night, and then slowly recovered to 1,700 to 1,800 yuan. “Yesterday, when I helped my friend to read,It was found that it was already 3,500 yuan a night.There are also some hotels that have just been renovated and want to recover the cost as soon as possible after Xiaohongshu became popular. They used to sell for 300 to 400 yuan per room night, but now they can sell for 700 to 800 yuan. “
As for the price of homestays, according to reports, when a large number of Russian tourists flooded in last year, homestays in Phuket had already gone up for a round. The price increase of homestays in Chiang Mai is slightly smaller, and it has only risen back to the pre-epidemic level.A single room is about 200 yuan/night, and an ordinary small villa is 400-500 yuan/night.andWith a swimming pool, the location is in the city centersmall villa, about RMB1000~1200 yuan/night.
Another major expense – air tickets, the price increase trend is more intuitive, from the current number and supply of flights can be glimpsed.
The self-media blogger “Filter Crusher” went to Thailand once in March this year. She told reporters that the two of her party flew directly from Shanghai to Bangkok on March 9 and returned to China on the 14th. The round-trip ticket price is 11,210 yuan.
However, around the Spring Festival in 2020, the total price of a one-way ticket for a group of 4 with friends is 7542. “In comparison, onlyAirfare almost doubles the price. What’s more, March is the off-season, and the Spring Festival is the peak season, and the air ticket prices are much higher than the previous off-season. “
In terms of accommodation and transportation, Angie also thinksThe relationship between supply and demand has a greater impact on prices“The same hotel usually costs five to six hundred yuan, but in peak season when there are many people, the room rate is about 1,200 yuan. But in the past two days, the price has come down again. The same is true for air tickets. There are fewer flights and more people go. expensive.”
In addition to the prices of air tickets and hotels, the prices of “small and small” tourism items are also increasing. Although it will not be a sudden shock, but a little gathering can always make a lot. Take the local tourism project in Chiang Mai as an example. Not long ago, when squidbang homestay guests booked the popular jungle leap project, they found thatThe original half-day itinerary was about 380 yuan, but now it has risen to about 500 yuan.
In terms of local transportation, An Qi told reporters that in addition to taxis, after the epidemic, Thailand has online taxi-hailing software, such as Grab and Bolt, similar to domestic Didi, and it is a one-time price, very convenient, and there is also a special model for women (driver is female).
But An Qi also mentioned that the price of a tuk tuk has increased several times, and her statement is not the same as that of Song Yan, “The journey that used to be 20 yuan now costs 100 yuan.”
She guessed, “Maybe it’s because the car is so well decorated,Product upgrades, turned into a travel experience”。
The cost of independent travel is indeed a bit high, is it cheaper to go with a group?
Song Yan told reporters that the cost of group tours is also rising. In 2019, Song Yan’s travel agency’s cheapest five-night and six-day group tour in Thailand can reach about 3,000 yuan per person.The price of group tour products in Thailand starts at 4,000 yuan/person, and most of them are concentrated at 5,000 to 6,000 yuan/personIt is difficult to see products worth two or three thousand yuan.
But Song Yan was also very helpless. She told the reporter that the increase in the price of group tours was restricted by the price of flights, wine and other travel costs. In addition, “For example, if you had a group meal before, forty or fifty yuan is enough; but now the cost price has been given to 78 yuan, or even 160 yuan.” She said that although the quality of the group meal has improved compared with before.
European, American and Indian tourists boost prices
If you ask which destination is the most popular since China’s outbound travel resumed? The answer must be Thailand.
Data from Lvmama show that since February, consultations and bookings for Thailand tour products priced around 4,000 yuan have been on the rise, with an increase of more than 150%. The previous survey results of “Daily Economic News” also showed that for consumers who plan to travel abroad, Asia is the most attractive, and Asian destinations are further subdivided. For Thailand; the latest data provided by Airbnb also shows that the number of Airbnb Chinese users who plan to travel to Asia and Oceania this spring has more than three times that of the same period last year; among them, Indonesia and Thailand continue to dominate the list as destination countries, leading growth in the Asia-Pacific region.
This is how the saying “half of Chinese outbound tourists have gone to Thailand” came into being.
Squid is deeply touched by this. In the past month, many people around her have taken Thailand as the first stop for going abroad. People in her circle of friends who are traveling abroad are either in Thailand or on their way to Thailand.
Before this round of negative public opinion broke out, why did everyone choose Thailand? Song Yan summed up several reasons: First, Thailand’s traffic recovery is relatively good, and direct flights are maintained with many domestic cities. Whether it is independent travel, semi-independent travel or group travel, the traffic is relatively convenient.
Secondly, the procedures and preparations before travel are relatively simple. “As one of the first tourist destinations open to Chinese tourists, Thailand currently supports visas on arrival for tourists. In contrast, some of the more popular destinations have more procedures for visa application, plus transfers are required. Willingness to travel will naturally be affected.”
As for the type of customer group, according to feedback from several travel agency practitioners, the number of domestic southern tourists traveling to Thailand is more, their willingness to travel is more active, and the occupancy rate of direct flights is higher.
However, Squid did not feel the joy of being full of Chinese tourists.
When Squid’s B&B opened, it was only a few months before the outbreak. Before the epidemic, 98% of the tourists of Mumu B&B came from China. With the outbreak, all customers are local Thais. It was not until the beginning of 2022 that the homestay welcomed guests from Europe, America, Southeast Asia and other places.As of March 2023, only 30% of Squid B&B’s Chinese customers accounted for it.
Walking on the streets of Chiang Mai, among the tourists in sight of the squid,Chinese people account for very little,And mostly couples or single tourists,The proportion of independent travel accounts for 90%. When returning to China in mid-March, An Qi also discovered, “Transferring from Phuket, we were the only two Chinese on the plane, but Phuket (before the epidemic) was the favorite place for Chinese people to travel to Thailand, and there should be many people. That’s right.”
Song Yan said that as of March, flights to Thailand had only recovered to 40% of 2019 levels at most. Among the existing tourist groups in Thailand,Chinese tourists are still in the minority. “If you want to say whether Thailand is popular now, it is indeed very popular, but for practitioners who receive Chinese tourists, the most worrying thing is the lack of tourists.”
The source of tourists does not come from China, so where do all the tourists in Thailand come from?
According to the observations of Song Yan et al., the currentMost of the tourists in Thailand come from Europe and India. Among them, there are especially many tourists from Russia.Song Yan told the reporter that in fact, the influx of Russian tourists to Thailand did not happen recently, but started from the peak tourist season last year.
Generally speaking, the peak season for European and American tourists to travel to Thailand is from November to early December each year and lasts until February and March of the following year. In previous years, the European and American markets began to ebb after March, but this year is not the case. “What I learned is related to the local situation.”
The tourists who stayed in Thailand and continued to come in together have caused the price of Thailand’s tourism products to rise again. Recently, when Song Yan was arranging hotels for tourists, she found that the team quotations given by Shangri-La, Marriott and other hotels in April were still rising. From the perspective of demand, in addition to tourists,Large-scale events and conferences have also begun to be held in Thailand——For example, for the upcoming music festival, hotels near the venue are fully booked.
If you want to ensure that the quality of the original itinerary does not drop, tourists are bound to spend more money. In the future, will Thailand still be able to bind cost performance? In the eyes of squid and others, it is difficult. “I am afraid that the price of fuel will come down in the future, and it will be difficult for factors such as accommodation and other (price) factors that have already risen to come back.”
(Editor: Wen Jing)