Speaking at this morning’s webinar “Gearing up Thailand Economic Recovery in 2022 and Beyond” organised by the Thai Exhibition Association (TEA) and sub-headed A Brighter Outlook for Thailand’s Exhibition Industry, Mr. Montri Mahaplerkpong Secretary-General of the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) suggested it may take 8-10 years for tourism to recover.
Other webinar speakers included Mr. Kavit Kittyboonya, Vice President, the Thai Exhibition Association (TEA), Mr.Chiruit Isarangkun Na Ayuthaya, President, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (TCEB), and Mr. Stanley Kang
Chairman, Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce in Thailand.
In addition Mr. Montri Mahaplerkpong
Secretary-General, The Federation of Thai Industries who impressed many of those attending the webinar with his presentation. Responding to my question
Does the panel have an estimate of when tourism will normalise?
his reply was both thoughtful and well reasoned.
Mr. Montri replied by firstly stating that tourism was not the Federation’s specialised area however if we compare the global pandemic to a Thailand-centric crisis such as the ‘97 Tom Yum Financial Crisis, this started here in one country. It took 5 years to recover. Now if we look at the Covid pandemic it is global involving all countries. “I can‘t see tourism recovering for 8-10 years,” he said.
He went onto explain that this was also dependant on other factors. He asked, “How safe is it to travel on an aircraft?” Economy class travel is too cramped for social distancing so high-end tourism travelling in business class with more space, may improve quicker than economy class tourism he suggested. In addition, he felt the rate of vaccinations and certification would affect the pace of the recovery.
Webinar no.2 of the series will take place on 26th August 2021 via Zoom 10:00-11:30 (GMT+7) and entitled “Where to Play and How to Win”.
Story and pictures
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by
Andrew J Wood
