Industry sees Sars as more damaging than Iraq war -Article
Cancellations of flights mounting
Nareerat Wiriyapong Nondhanada Intarakomalyasut
Growing alarm about Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) is having a far-reaching impact on Thailand's travel and tourism industry and is likely to deprive the country of tens of billions of baht in lost revenue.
The epidemic is now seen as affecting the travel industry more than the war in Iraq, which has also taken business away from airlines, hotels and tour operators.
Fear of the virus has nearly wiped out all outbound tour bookings from Thailand between now and June, while inbound tourist numbers have dwindled by 20% in the first quarter.
Airlines including Thai Airways International and Cathay Pacific have cut flights to Hong Kong, the area hardest hit by the virus that originated in southern China. Singapore Airlines is considering more cutbacks of its flights to destinations where traffic was falling.
Leading members of the Thai travel industry said the impact from the Sars crisis on Thailand would worsen, as the death toll rose to 62, with 1,700 infected in many parts of the world.
The Public Health Ministry has declared the virus a serious communicable disease, an emergency move authorising the quarantine of suspected carriers for 14 days, according to minister Sudarat Keyuraphan.
Charoen Wangananont, president of the Association of Domestic Travel, said updated data gathered by the industry showed that 95% of outbound trip bookings up to June had been cancelled.
Before the outbreak, almost 100,000 Thai tourists had booked flights to highly affected countries including Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Vietnam, during the three-month peak travel season.
Surapol Srithrakul, vice-president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta), said yesterday that inbound tourists dropped by 20% in the first quarter due mainly to the war in Iraq and the Sars outbreak. The majority of cancelled flights were made by American, Middle Eastern and Asian tourists, especially Japanese.
``If the situation does not improve, we expect another drop of 20% or more in the second quarter,'' he said.
``The [virus] has become the major concern of tourists as it can [be transmitted] easily and the threat is closer to them than the war,'' Mr Surapol said.
According to Prakit Chinamornpong, secretary of the Thai Hotels Association (THA), bookings for the Songkran festival, particularly in the North and the South, have been very slow.
``Normally, by this time, most hotels and resorts in the North and South should be almost fully booked but there has been very few reservations so far,'' he said.
Songkran is very popular among tourists from China, Hong Kong and Singapore. ``Unfortunately this year, the number of these tourists is almost invisible,'' he said, adding that tourists from Europe and Japan were also reluctant to travel to the region.
As a result, he said, hotel occupancy was now expected to be down 20-30% from the same period last year. Just last week the industry had been talking of a 10-15% decline.
Cathay Pacific, meanwhile, cut its Bangkok-Hong Kong flights from 35 to 32 a week, from April 16 to May 31 due to low traffic, said Yongyuth Lujintanon, sales and marketing manager.
He said planes that normally were full at this time of year were now half-full.
Singapore Airlines is considering reducing capacity if there is a sharp fall in demand. It operates 40 Bangkok-Singapore flights a week.
The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said that its visitor arrivals fell 8.8% year-on-year from March 1-23.
Executives of local airlines _ Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways, PB Air, Air Andaman, Orient Thai and Phuket Air _ yesterday held a ``crisis'' meeting to formulate a ``unity plan'' to tackle the severe impact of Sars on their businesses.
Suraphon Isarangkura na Ayudhaya, director of THAI's crisis management and operation centre, said inbound passengers on the airlines arriving from Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Taiwan and Vietnam would be immediately subject to medical screening at the airports where the flights originate.
``Without medical certificates confirming that they are free from the virus, they would be denied boarding,'' he said.
Any suspected passenger will be isolated and all passengers from those countries will be required to wear surgical masks. Also, disinfectant sprays will be used in every aircraft.
``We are positive that the aggressive measures will assure passengers that they are on safe flights and that Thailand carries an image as a completely clean and safe destination,'' said Mr Suraphon.
bangkokpost.com
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