Large mall operators, including The Mall Group and Siam Piwat, have pleaded with the government to allow incoming flights from four nations in an attempt to boost and recover retail sales.
The four countries – Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam (CLMV) – are targeted by mall operators as they have high purchasing power. They also account for a significant percentage of foreigners who purchase goods and services across malls in Bangkok.
Senior Executive Vice-President for marketing at Siam Piwat, Mayuree Chaipromprasit, said that a request had been submitted to the Thai government to allow foreign tourists from the CLMV nations to enter Thailand.
She cited the low number of coronavirus cases in the four countries and said the government could come up with concise measures to prevent the virus from entering Thailand if tourists were allowed to visit.
According to figures from the Siam Center, Siam Discovery, and Siam Paragon, foreign tourists account for 40 percent of the total foot traffic at the three malls. Of those, 30 percent are from the CLMV group. Mrs. Chaipromprasit said:
“Tourists from the CLMV have spent an average of 100,000 baht per visit. These shoppers enjoy a variety of services, from fashion to beauty, helping distribute income to various business owners.”
She has also requested that the Thai government launch campaigns to attract wealthy Thai citizens from outside Bangkok to come to the capital for shopping. She continued:
“We would like the government to encourage spending in Bangkok, which suffered a greater impact from the pandemic than provincial areas.”
Her thoughts were echoed by Voralak Tulaphorn, Chief Marketing Officer of The Mall Group, who emphasized that Thailand’s retail business heavily relies on tourism. She expects the retail industry in Thailand to contract by a two-digit rate this year. Ms. Tulaphorn said:
“About 50% of our customers have resumed shopping, but sales have yet to recover accordingly because most shoppers who come to the stores have specific needs they are shopping for instead of just browsing as they did before the pandemic.”
In an effort to boost sales, The Mall Group and Siam Piwat have combined forces to launch the Bangkok Shopping Festival Campaign at several shopping centers.
The event runs from June 26th until August 2nd and is expected to generate more than four billion baht in sales.
Source: Bangkok Post
