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Thailand best value for money with travel bargains, hotel discounts and added value.


As Barack Obama is sworn into the Presidential Office tomorrow, value for money will be a key theme for the travel industry in 2009, but so will “added value”.
 
ABTA members, with their commitment to quality, service and choice, can also provide financial protection. High-end operators are also saying that their customers are wanting more for their money, so rather than trading down, they want free room upgrades, free child places and lounge access, among other requests. People who don’t want to give up their holidays, but want to take a cheaper option.
 
According to a recent report on traveldailynews.com, airlines have done a remarkable job of restructuring themselves since 2001. Non-fuel unit costs are down 13 percent; fuel efficiency has improved by 19 percent; and sales and marketing unit costs have come down by 13 percent. IATA made a significant contribution to this restructuring. But the ferocity of the economic crisis has overshadowed these gains and airlines are struggling to match capacity with the expected 3% drop in passenger demand for 2009.
 
According to Conde Naste, air travel will continue to slump in lockstep with the economy; the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which represents 230 airlines worldwide, says it thinks that traffic will be down about 3%. So look for airlines to continue to cut flights, at least in the first half of the year. Oil prices are also expected to be down, which should cushion airlines’ finances. In fact, IATA says that airline losses should narrow to around $2 billion from $5 billion in 2008.
 
In the World Travel Guide, a recent survey carried out by the Post Office in Britain pointed out that “Thailand currently offers the best value for money for British holidaymakers.”
Although the Thai baht has recently strengthened, Andrew Spice of Post Office Travel Services said that “prices remain very low in the country and the discounts now available to top resorts will make Thailand unbeatable value.”
 
In keeping with this, Thailand’s new prime minister said his government is considering waiving visa fees for all tourists for three months in a bid to boost visitor numbers following last year’s upheaval in the Thai capital and the global economic downturn, an AFP report said.
 
Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said that there could also be discounts on aircraft landing fees. “The plan to revive the tourism sector will be tabled at the cabinet meeting next Tuesday and will include a three months waiver for visa fees and discounting landing fees,” he said a seminar. “I hope these measures will help the tourism sector one way or another.”
 
The Bank of Thailand has forecast that tourist arrivals in 2009 would drop 8.8 percent from 12.8 million visitors in 2008, which is far higher than the downturn in predicted international passenger demand percentages. However, the Thai government has recently allocated US$28.6 million to boost tourism.
 
In addition, The Tourism Authority of Thailand is working with Chinese authorities and travel companies to entice tourists from that country to come here for the upcoming Chinese New Year festival. A total of 1.05 million visitors from China have been targeted for this year.