Thai tourism during Chinese New Year festival slows down

BANGKOK, January 17 (TNA) - Operators of tourism-related businesses in Thailand have acknowledged a slowdown in domestic tourism during the Chinese New Year festival 2014 late this month, caused by impacts from persistent domestic political protests. President of the Thai-Chinese Tourism Alliance Association (TCTA) Kasian Wattanachaopisut told reporters on Friday that inbound-tour businesses for this year's Lunar New Year celebrations appear to slow down, compared with those of last year, due mainly to prolonged political protests in Bangkok. The TCTA president pointed out that planned tours to Thailand by Chinese visitors, normally the Kingdom’s major tourist market during the Chinese New Year festival, have dropped and there have been no arrivals by private charter flights from China since early this year. According to the TCTA chief, international visitors to other Thai provinces, namely Phuket in the Thai South, have remained normal, especially those from Europe and the United States, as the Western tourists usually escape their winter and visit Thailand every January.(TNA)