Thailand doubles tourism budget<\/p>\n
Beth Jinks, Bloomberg\/Bangkok<\/p>\n
Thailand will spend a further 1.5 billion baht (US$36.4 million)
\nmarketing tourism to revive the nation's tsunami-ravaged
\nsouthwest resorts, newly appointed Tourism and Sports Minister
\nPracha Maleenont said.<\/p>\n
The government gave the Tourism Authority an additional 2.5
\nbillion baht last month to help revive the industry, which
\naccounted for 6.4 percent of the country's $164 billion economy
\nin 2004. Most of the original 4.6 billion baht annual budget was
\nspent in the first half, authority Governor Juthamas Siriwan said
\nin July.<\/p>\n
Earthquake-triggered waves in December killed more than 5,400
\npeople in Thailand, half of them foreign visitors. Hotel and
\nairline bookings for affected areas such as Phuket are down 70
\npercent, even after the introduction of a tsunami-warning system
\nand a $750 million government rebuilding budget.<\/p>\n
\"Obviously with the tsunami we saw a dip in the region and a
\nparticular impact in Thailand,\" Ian Wheeler, head of marketing at
\nAmadeus Global Travel Distribution SA, the world's largest
\ntravel-reservations company, said in an interview. \"Now I would
\nsay the region has recovered in total, but Thailand is still a
\nbit down.\"<\/p>\n
Only two tsunami-affected beaches have been fully restored and
\nother recovery work is unlikely to be completed before the peak
\nseason starting in October, the Bangkok Post reported on
\nSaturday, citing Vichit Na Ranong, chairman of the Tourism
\nCouncil of Thailand.<\/p>\n
Thailand's economy contracted 0.6 percent in the first quarter
\nfrom the fourth quarter of 2004, blamed in part on the tsunami.
\nIn 2004, Thailand attracted a record 11.7 million visitors,
\nmissing its 12 million target amid the tsunami in the peak last
\nweek of the year.<\/p>\n
\"Reviving business to Phuket and South Thailand remains our
\ntop priority,\" Pracha, a former television executive, said in an
\ne-mailed statement on Friday. Pracha, 58, replaced Somsak
\nThepsutin as tourism minister in an Aug. 2 cabinet reshuffle.<\/p>\n
Record oil prices and the lingering effects of the December
\ndisaster saw Thai Airways International Pcl, the country's
\nlargest airline, post its worst loss in almost six years in the
\nsecond quarter. Thai Air on Friday raised fuel surcharges for the
\nthird time since July 1, to as much as $50 per flight coupon for
\nintercontinental flights, to help cover rising costs.<\/p>\n
Unrest and escalating violence in Thailand's Muslim-majority
\nsouthernmost provinces is also hurting the economy and travel,
\nPrime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said on Friday.<\/p>\n
Pracha maintained aims to meet record tourist targets this
\nyear \"in spite of the consequences of the high oil prices, Thai
\neconomic slowdown, the situation in southern Thailand and the
\nlingering impact of the tsunami.\"<\/p>\n
The Tourism Authority of Thailand will \"make every effort to
\nachieve\" pre-tsunami targets of attracting a record 13.4 million
\nforeign visitors and 76 million domestic trips this year,
\nassisted by the additional budget, he said.<\/p>\n
The ministry also plans to promote resort areas not damaged by
\nthe tsunami, including Hua Hin, Cha-am, Samui and Chumphon, as
\nwell as the northern city of Chiang Mai, and \"position Thailand
\nas the film-making capital of Asia\" by easing bureaucracy and
\nrules involved in permits for movie and documentary making.<\/p>",
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