Chiang Mai tourism associations yesterday urged the government to help them by promoting the North overseas, as new bookings seem very slow for the high season.

“Hotels and tour operators in Chiang Mai have received advance reservations of only 3040 per cent. We should have a higher number, at least 50 per cent,” said Songvit Ittipattanakul, advisory chairman of the Chiang Mai Tourism Business Association.

Forward bookings from foreign markets specifically going to Chiang Mai until early next year are lower than the same time last year, he said.

Tourism in Chiang Mai has plummeted by 50 per cent since the political turmoil in April, and business in the near future will not improve if there is no help or marketing efforts from the government, he said.

Travellers from the Americas and Europe have put their plans for Northern Thailand on hold for fear of political instability, while their economies have also not improved much, he said.

Full story: The Nation

By The Nation