Destination Thailand: steal market share while they are not looking!

Photo credit: Johan Fantenberg

With the street political protests reaching 200 days, now exceeding that of the 2010 political crisis, with no indication of a resolution in the near future, and the peak tourist season over, destination Thailand is likely to remain depressed through 2014. Visitor numbers and hotel occupancy remained at record low levels throughout the peak tourist season with little hope for improvement going into the low season. Compounding the problem is the marketing void in originating markets caused by the major travel brands shifting their promotion budgets to more predictable alternate destinations.

But this state of affairs unexpectedly benefit both the smaller operators and independent hotels in Thailand and the independent travel agents in the originating markets as the field is left wide open by the large travel brands as they sidelined destination Thailand to shift their focus on other destinations. In good times, it is very difficult and expensive for the small businesses to compete effectively for market share against their larger competitors, so the misfortune of Thailand tourism becomes an opportunity to reach potential visitors who would normally be drawn to the major travel brands by their highly visible marketing.

Now is a great time to sell Thailand!

Empty chairs in the peak of season

Thailand is in the news again with violent incidents in political demonstrations. As expected, Thailand as a destination is being pulled from travel shop windows in London, moved to the back pages of travel sites in the US and removed from all promotions in the generating markets ... as usual! But let’s look at the facts and see the opportunity:

#1. It is affecting the tourism industry, but not the tourists

Unlike political crises in other tourism destinations around the world, the events in Thailand are not rooted in religious or nationalist extremism. Foreigners and tourists are not targeted at all, they are not even a factor in the political conflict. The disruption and violent incidents have only occurred within the perimeter of the demonstrations and, unlike in previous crises, airports and shopping centers remain unaffected and open for business.