Thailand floods hit tourism as Indians prefer to stay away

With the winter tourist season setting in, Indian tourists have this time decided to skip one of their favourite holiday destinations – Thailand.

The recent floods and inundation in Bangkok have affected the tourism in Thailand. Several travel operators in India have seen a drop in bookings to Thailand and cancellations in hotel bookings and air travels for the week ahead.

Following the floods, many countries had advised their citizens to avoid non-essential travel to the Thai capital Bangkok as rising floodwaters prompted a mass evacuation from the city.

The floods are expected to take their toll on Thailand's tourism industry, which employs more than two million people and makes up 6 per cent of gross domestic product.

According to tour operators, there have been many enquiries from Indian tourists for deferring, and also, cancelling their trips to the Thai cities.

“Those who had planned their trip have postponed it and there is likely to be a 20 per cent drop in the outbound figures to Thailand due to the floods,” Mr Manoj Gursahani, Chairman, Travelmartindia.com. Though most aircrafts operating from Indian cities to Bangkok were flying with empty seats, the flight frequencies have not changed.

“For the Indian traveller, Thailand has been a preferred destination for many years. The festival season was a good time for all to travel, but unfortunately due to the flood in Bangkok has also affected the tourist flow to other popular destinations in Thailand,” reiterated Mr Deepak Tuli, Head, Goibibo.

Advance booking for December is quiet. With Thailand falling out of the travel list of many Indian tourists, places such as Singapore, Malaysia, Maldives and Mauritius have witnessed a rise in the bookings.

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