Lessons from Thai tourism

IN the Asia Edition of Bloomberg's Morning Briefing on Jan. 7, there is a section "Deep Dive: Thailand's Tourism Rebound." I have long written and expounded on Japan and Thailand being the gold standard in tourism with, in my view, Japan being the prestige product and Thailand being the full-service product.To put what Thailand's tourism achieves in financial terms, the total gross domestic product (GDP) of the Philippines from Wikipedia is estimated to be $471 billion as of the end of 2024 with a bit over $3,000 GDP per capita. Various local papers, citing the Department of Tourism, reported tourism revenue for the Philippines in 2024 was up 9 percent to P760 billion, or about $13 billion, and about 5.95 million arrivals short of the 7.7 million target but is a record high. A lot of those are balikbayans and extended family. That is great, but I wonder how much pure tourism with no overseas Filipino connection we get. I am happy our kababayan bring their friends and families home, but it should not be largely limited to that.What did Thailand, starting from an already high base in 2023, achieve in 2024 with their 70 million population? Over 35 million foreign visitor arrivals, up 26 percent on the year before along with 200 million domestic trips. Projected to increase to 40 million visitors this year. All of that generated $81 billion in revenues. Their total GDP is around $600 billion (but higher using purchasing power parity given the low cost of food and staples being an agricultural exporter, and their lower cost of utilities and infrastructure) with about $7,000 GDP per capita. About 14 percent of their larger GDP comes from tourism versus our 2.7 percent. Total overseas Filipino worker (OFW) remittances are about $31 billion. A tourist sector as robust as Thailand's could more than replace OFW remittances, though to be fair, the $81 billion in total revenues not salaries and OFW remittances are sourced from pay minus expenses.Before I get to specific programs and enhancements Thailand initiated in 2024 and recently, what services and options do they provide tourists? First, the fundamentals are there. Easy and affordable access through multiple direct to destination airports. From major cities in Asia and even some in Europe, you can fly straight to not just Bangkok but Phuket and Koh Samui. If there are no direct flights, there are easy and multiple connections. Then land transportation is plentiful and safe. Variety and choice for accommodations and food choices are there. From street food to 3 Michelin star restaurants. From bargain to luxury shopping as well. In effect, they have become for shopping what Hong Kong was about 30 years ago for the rest of Asia. There is value, quality and breadth at every price point from backpackers to ultra luxury.Most important to me are two more points. Excellent and efficient customer service is one. I am sorry, but if you read or listen to many articles and podcasts on the Philippines, they bemoan our generally slow, inefficient and poor customer service. Friendliness, which we are vaunted to have in excess, is useless if it veers into invading one's privacy and space, and if not accompanied by efficiency and results. What is the most popular line when dealing with customer service whether in a restaurant or commercial services — "Sir, pasensya na po." Sorry, if you're paying for the service, you want results not a nosy server who does not deliver. There is a very high-end restaurant I used to enjoy that I will never go to again. With hardly any customers over lunch, they after an hour did not deliver my order, and after I asked at least three times kept insisting it was coming even to saying "pini-plate na ho," which was not true. Then after I canceled the order, they could not even produce the bill as they did not have paper in their printer so wanted me to pay based on a screenshot. Now mistakes happen but not owning up and bs-ing the customer instead means no proper preparation or procedures, or training for this where your bill can easily be P5,000 per person without drinks. I have never had anything like that in Bangkok, Hong Kong or New York. There were times in Bangkok and Hong Kong where there was a screw-up at high-end restaurants. Both times they profusely apologized and without my asking said there would be no charge for the meal. With that, of course, I accepted their apologies and went back.Our ballyhooed friendliness is without guidelines and while well-meaning often means invading privacy by asking irrelevant personal questions and lingering at the expense of timely service and results. Also related is generally in Thailand and universally in Japan, they view the visitor as a resource, and honored guest and not someone to gouge.Now, what did Thailand do to boost tourism arrivals which was a big priority post-pandemic for Thailand? They eased entry rules for many countries and waived visas for Chinese tourists, their largest group of visitors. They are also becoming a chic place with the third season of HBO's series "White Lotus" set there among Thai luxury hotels raising interest. India also does that promotion very well in their Bollywood movies. Then in a lesson to our no-divorce country, Thailand legalized same-sex marriage which led to attracting over 4 million additional tourists as it boosted "rainbow tourism" and $2 billion in additional revenue, according to travel platform Agoda, as it enhanced its image as a tolerant, and open and welcoming place.Prior to that, the luxury hotels realized what an opportunity the several-days Indian wedding receptions are and marketed that segment well. When I used to travel to Bangkok on business, if I was there on Fridays, I would see the preparations for Indian weddings often. And it wasn't just talk, they would add food items to cater to them and hire staff that spoke the language and even changed the cable TV choices over the weekend to have Indian programming among the choices.We must learn that it is not sloganeering and marketing that will bring tourists. It is preparation, execution plus choices and value that will be a sustained effort over a long period. Most of all, we need to provide efficient customer service and to value the tourist as a resource not someone to exploit. We send our people abroad to service foreigners; Thailand brings the foreigners to them and provides good jobs for Thais at home.