The doom and gloom around tourism in #Pattaya after the outbreak of the coronavirus is now being keenly felt and will get worse in the foreseeable future, said a leading industry figure.
As restrictions on selling hotel and flight packages to tour groups bite and the dwindling numbers of Chinese already in Thailand head home, operators in Pattaya are having to scratch around to find new tourists to replace their number one source of income, reported Sophon Cable TV.
They quoted secretary of the entertainment and tourist industry Damrongkiat Pinitkarn as saying that Chinese New Year 2020 was 60% down on last year.
He spoke of a “great effect” from the coronavirus that has seen several large Chinese cities virtually sealed.
Damrongkiat said that to make matters worse what people there are in Pattaya are avoiding places with poor ventilation like discos and pubs.
His message was that it was getting worse not better and it would be a long time before there was a recovery.
He said that operators need to seek out new markets like the Indians and Koreans to take up some of the slack.
As far as preventative measures go in combating the spread of the virus he said that entertainment businesses in Pattaya had initiated staff training and more cleaning and gels and thermometers were on hand to increase confidence of customers. – Sophon Cable TV
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