Numbers of tourists from Russia falling by the minute

Kasikorn Research Centre (KRC) says the Russian economic crisis will cut Russian travel to Thailand by at least 9.3pc in 2014 and 24.6pc in 2015.

The forecast comes as a shock for the local travel industry as it relies heavily on this market.

The research centre said the Russian economy faces a crisis caused by the conflict in Ukraine, the EU’s economic sanctions and a fall in oil prices.

Those factors have hit the Russian economy and would cause a slowdown in of 4pc next year, it said.

As Russians are a significant source of business for the country’s tourism, the economic crisis has impacted the Thailand tourism and export sectors. The sectors suffered a loss of B21,560 million, or 0.16pc of the country’s GDP.

The crisis discourages Russian travellers from spending on long-haul trips to places like Thailand.

The centre estimated that this year there would only be 1.58 million Russian travellers to the kingdom, down 9.3% and generating B1,130,000 million, a decline of 7.3%.

The bank projected that Russian tourists to Thailand would drop by 24.6% in 2015. Revenue from this market would decrease by 20.7%.

The Kasikorn predictions contrast darkly with the figures of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, which recorded a total of 1.74 million Russian tourists visiting Thailand in 2013, up 32.66% from 2012, with a revenue rise to match.

Those figures seem most unlikely to be matched this year, given that the ministry itself gives a January-November figure for 2014 of 757,502, down from 930,843 in the same period of 2013.
That’s a fall of almost 19pc.

Phuket News

 

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