Boxer
December 28th, 2006, 08:58
Busy or quiet? We speak with Bar Owners on Walking Street.
On тАЬChristmas DayтАЭ night we made our way down to Walking Street in South Pattaya to take in some of the festive atmosphere. We were pleased to see that the street was busy; however one of the major complaints from bar owners this year is that tourists are walking but not spending money in the bars. Over the past few days we have spoken with many bar owners who have mixed views on reports that tourist numbers are significantly down this year. Some bars reported 20-30% increases in trade from this time last year with others reporting up to 50% decreases. Reports in the local media have suggested that overall tourism is down by 50%. We believe this figure is pure speculation and is not based on any official figures which will be released after the high season is over. From what we saw and have seen over the last week, we expect this figure to be around 20-30% down from last year. On a positive note the atmosphere in the South Pattaya area was good with many making the effort and sporting festive costumes and we saw plenty of bars full of customers enjoying what Pattaya has to offer.
On тАЬChristmas DayтАЭ night we made our way down to Walking Street in South Pattaya to take in some of the festive atmosphere. We were pleased to see that the street was busy; however one of the major complaints from bar owners this year is that tourists are walking but not spending money in the bars. Over the past few days we have spoken with many bar owners who have mixed views on reports that tourist numbers are significantly down this year. Some bars reported 20-30% increases in trade from this time last year with others reporting up to 50% decreases. Reports in the local media have suggested that overall tourism is down by 50%. We believe this figure is pure speculation and is not based on any official figures which will be released after the high season is over. From what we saw and have seen over the last week, we expect this figure to be around 20-30% down from last year. On a positive note the atmosphere in the South Pattaya area was good with many making the effort and sporting festive costumes and we saw plenty of bars full of customers enjoying what Pattaya has to offer.