Thailand, which used to be a poor tour, was too expensive to go.
But now, the price increase has become the biggest obstacle in this two-way trip. Due to the influx of Thai tourists, shortage of manpower, inflation and rising prices, "Thailand's consumption is almost catching up with Sanya", and the play experience is not as good as before. This makes China tourists who have just come out of the epidemic more hesitant, and also casts a shadow over Thailand's recovering tourism industry.
A trip to Thailand with soaring prices
A coconut 15 yuan, taxi starting price 40 yuan, a pair of slippers 45 yuan ... On the first day of arriving in Phuket, Zhang gave up bookkeeping in order to keep a good mood. She muttered, "This consumption is almost catching up with Sanya." .
Before leaving, Zhang had a hunch that this trip to Thailand might not be as cheap and affordable as she imagined.
The first signal is the ticket. It was in early February. There is only one direct flight from Beijing to Bangkok every day, and the fare is nearly 4000 yuan. She had to choose to transfer to Xiamen, but even so, the round-trip air ticket cost 4742 yuan.
Open the reservation software, and the hotels that look a little more spacious and tidy will cost four or five hundred yuan. Considering that this is the first time to travel abroad, for the sake of safety and convenience, she gritted her teeth and booked a hotel in Sukunyi, a bustling business district. Three nights in Bangkok 1.458 yuan. Hotels in Phuket are more expensive, so she had to change her plan and stay there for only one night. In addition, in Chiang Mai's hotel, 400 yuan spent nearly 10,000 yuan on calling cards and reserved visa fees before leaving.
Thinking that a friend said, "I spent a month in Chiang Mai on 20 18, and spent less than 10,000 yuan", Zhang sighed and comforted himself: "This time it's different. Just released, the price will inevitably be a little more expensive."
On February 6th, the domestic pilot resumed the national travel agencies and online travel enterprises to operate China citizens' outbound and group tours and "air ticket+hotel" services in relevant countries, the first batch of which included Thailand. At that time, people were eager to go abroad for three years, and Thailand was one of the easiest countries to go to. Zhang can be said to have caught the first wave, and expensive air tickets and hotels were also in her expectation.
But she didn't expect that what was waiting for her was a comprehensive price increase.
On February 10, Zhang embarked on a long-awaited trip to Thailand. After arriving in Bangkok, she immediately felt the excitement of the tourist country. Thai and English broadcasts rang alternately, and there were people around her. She dragged her suitcase all the way to the visa office, but waited in line for more than half an hour to complete the formalities.
After leaving the airport, the first trip was very unpleasant. During a short night market trip, the taxi driver asked her for 80 yuan. After asking for a watch, the other party gave it to her with a pie mouth and drove away with a swish. Zhang was a little angry when the driver next to him casually quoted the price of 120 yuan. "Maybe I'm alone, so I'm good at bullying." Finally, she stopped a rolling car. According to the strategy, she firmly indicated with 20 yuan. After several bargains, she set off for the night market.
The brightly lit street scenes along the way are all seen on travel videos. The stalls in the night market are all equipped with QR codes of WeChat and Alipay. The hottest online celebrity is called "Fruit Beauty". Vendors record vibrating audio and video in unfamiliar Chinese, but they are surrounded by European and American faces and incomprehensible Thai signs, and rarely see China people. Suddenly, she had a wonderful feeling of "familiarity and strangeness".
After the novelty, Zhang began to be stung by the price. Thai baht multiplied by 0.2 can be converted into RMB price. Every time she spends it, she will have doubts. "How a little expensive? Am I being slaughtered? "
A box of durian 40 yuan broke her fantasy of "durian is full", a seafood meal 160 yuan. She looked at the food guide again. "Are you in the wrong place?" What she can't accept most is that ordinary pedicures in street massage shops should also be in 80 yuan. She showed the price list to a friend who had been to Thailand, and her friend told her that it was too expensive to exchange it, but it was the same price for several stores in succession.
Every day, Zhang is adjusting her expenditure budget, which makes her feel very tired. In the end, she and her friends reached an understanding that "Thailand's tourism has really increased in price", so they can only decide to spend with the idea that "it's cheaper than Beijing anyway".
Zhang's feelings are not unique. The Tourism Authority of Thailand has published data, showing that "the current air ticket prices to and from key cities in Thailand and China are 1.5 times higher than before the epidemic, and the average expenditure of China tourists per trip has soared from 50,000 to 54,000 baht to 60,000 even 1.5 million baht", which is about RMB 6.5438+0.2 million to 30,000 yuan.
Sun, who has been to Thailand many times, feels that the tourism price in Thailand has just risen to the range of "psychologically unacceptable, but the wallet can still bear it".
In the past few years, Sun's main purpose in coming to Thailand was to "spend the least money and enjoy the best life". During the rainy season in July and August, when Thailand has the least tourists, she can stay at the Hilton Hotel in 400 yuan, and the price of the same room in Hangzhou is nearly 2,000 yuan. However, when 65438+ decided to go to Thailand at the end of October, the Hilton where she lived had risen to 1400 yuan, and the Amy that could be booked in 800 yuan in the past had risen to 3,400 yuan.
"Before the outbreak, I went to Thailand more times than I went back to my hometown in Shandong." When I was modeling in an online shop, Sun went to Thailand three or four times a year. The island in Thailand used to be the favorite clothing shooting place for online celebrities' shops, with clear sea water and low price. The swimming pool and lush green plants are the standard facilities of the hotel. "It's easy to find a place to take pictures. It costs one or two thousand yuan for a team to take a picture."
After switching to the clothing fabric business, Sun went to Thailand more often, flying almost every month on 20 17. "It's convenient and affordable. I can come back whenever I have something to do in China. I'm too tired to make money. I just want to find a place to enjoy life. "
Although the air tickets and hotel prices are rising this time, she and her boyfriend still bought air tickets from Hong Kong to Thailand on February 7, but Hilton was reluctant to book them. She found a forest hotel in Chiang Mai, the price is more than 800 yuan per night. "I admit that the price has risen. I really don't want to wait any longer after waiting for three years."