HHAD
20 November 09
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HUA HIN AFTER DARK.COM FREE
WEEKLY
ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE FOR THE EXPAT IN ALL OF US What’s happening, and might be happening, in and around Hua Hin
The Waiting Game What does the high season have in store?
hua hin, thailand The last year has been a bad one for many Hua Hin businesses, as they have been faced with events and circumstances out of their control heavily impacting on their customers. The global recession sparked by the greedy and incompetent bankers, an unreasonably strong baht making Thailand a more expensive destination, the political protests and airport shutdown caused by the controversial Thaksin Shinawatra, who is ominously back in the spotlight again now, and unhelpful media coverage focusing on corruption and scams that directly affect international tourists have all had a part to play. The question now is whether the impending high season will sweep away all the negativity in a flood of late booking tourists, or whether the worst fears of another bad season will be realised. The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) projects international tourist arrivals to Thailand through its members
Hin so far has disappointed many business owners AWOL has spoken to. However, tourism across Asia actually increased in August compared to 2008, and the baht appears to be weakening, while there are some bargain airfares to be had compared to last year, so there are some glimmers of hope; many experts believe that as the Will Soi Bintabaht be heaving economic news in Europe and the or hopeless this high season? USA has been improving, this will decrease by 38% to 1.5 million will encourage people to book last this year due to the persistence of minute holidays; the question then global economic problems and local is, will Hua Hin be ready for the political instability. rush? Surapol Sritrakul, the association’s president, said advance bookings for the high season had been meagre. ATTA expects the number Harley’s Page 3 of tourists the last two months of the year will be lower than in 2007, HHAD hot topics which totalled 470,000. In the first 10 months of this year, JBC Sudoku ATTA reported tourist arrivals through its members dropped by Lolitas Agony aunt 30% year-on-year to 1.257 million. The lowest point was October with Sir Alex F*@#*#!? only 89,388, and November in Hua
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