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[Dick]

"The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) has warned of a sharp drop in the number of foreign tourist arrivals at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport.

It says the number of foreign tourists who arrived at Suvarnabhumi between January and August, after booking their travel through travel agencies, totalled 1.57 million, down by a whopping 15.3 per cent from the corresponding period last year.

The association's figures show that the arrivals were down by 350,000 from 1.92 million in the first eight months of 2006.

The figures do not, however, include the large number of tourists who travel without using agencies, and who book directly with airlines. And although Suvarnabhumi is the main tourist gateway to Thailand, the figures do not include arrivals directly to other international airports like Phuket, Koh Samui, Chiang Mai and Krabi.

The ATTA says the global economic slowdown, Thailand's political turmoil, rumours that Bangkok was targeted for more bombings and the sharp fluctuations in major currencies had been the main negative factors affecting the tourist industry.

Asian tourists, making up the largest group of the Kingdom's inbound visitors, are halting their trips to Thailand to save their money for next year's Beijing Olympic Games.Among Thailand's main markets for inbound tourists, 244,187 tourists came from China in the first eight months, down by 24.24 per cent; 202,692 arrived from South Korea, down by 15.3 per cent; and 170,289 Japanese tourists arrived, down by 24.4 per cent."

Although there were more visitors from European countries, their numbers have not been enough to offset the overall decline. France has been the fastest-growing market, showing an increase of 31.14 per cent over last year, followed by Russia with a growth rate of 29.29 per cent and the United Kingdom with 26.81 per cent.

The biggest fall has been in visitors from Vietnam, with a decline of 66.45 per cent, from 52,822 last year to just 17,724."

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/09/12...ss_30048638.php