THAI shifts its focus to Europe
| |||
| In a move to boost revenues, Thai Airways International has shifted its main focus to Europe from Asia, which is more sensitive to the swine-flu outbreak. THAI executive chairman Wallop Bhukkanasut said the airline was promoting its newly opened route from Bangkok to Oslo, where its load factor is as high as 80 percent. The airline also has plans to introduce promotions to other European countries in the near future. With the Thai tourism industry suffering badly from the global recession, domestic political instability and the type-A (H1N1) influenza outbreak, the government has decided to put the sector on its national agenda and allocated an additional Bt70 million to help rebuild it. Earlier, three organisations - the Association of Domestic Travel, the Thai-Chinese Tourism Alliance and the Thai-Japan Tourist Association - warned the government that the nations tourism sector didnt not have the resources to fight the downturn. According to the Tourism Authority of Thailand, arrivals have already decreased by 19 per cent and the agency is revising this year's target to 12 million visitors. However, the TAT is confident that it will be able to make a mark in some emerging markets like the Middle East and India as well as China in the second half of the year. Source = e-Travel Blackboard: To read this article online, please visit http://www.etravelblackboardasia.com/article.asp?nav=2&id=63451 |
|
|
|
