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"Tourism prospects remain fragile Published: 8 Mar 2014 at 16.30Online news: Local News BERLIN - UK visitor numbers to Thailand rose at the start of the year despite plunging numbers from some other markets in the face of anti-government protests in Bangkok. However, "at some point there will be a cost" if protests continue, according to Martin Craigs, chief executive of the Bangkok-based Pacific-Asia Travel Association (Pata). The "Teflon Thailand" image the country has earned for its "amazing" ability to bounce back from crises can't last forever, he added. "Of course, traffic [to Thailand] has dropped off," he told the UK-based Travel Weekly in an interview at ITB Berlin, the world's biggest travel trade fair. "What is instructive is how huge the drop is according to [government] travel advisories. Visitors walk past a cardboard cutout featuring a traditional Thai dancer at the Thailand stand of the ITB International Travel Trade Fair in Berlin. (AFP Photo) "Hong Kong dropped 60% from January 2013 to January 2014. But traffic from the UK was almost 10% up [in the same period]." Mr Craigs said the reason was simple: "Hong Kong's travel advisory put Bangkok in the same category as Syria." The UK Foreign Office has not advised against travel to Thailand, acknowledging the fact that the protests have been confined to limited areas of Bangkok. However, Mr Craigs reported hotel occupancy in downtown Bangkok at just 20-30%. He told Travel Weekly: "Of course, people book further in advance from Britain. The UK market is used to a little turmoil and the majority are not coming to spend two weeks in Bangkok. "The UK and Hong Kong are the most extreme examples of what has happened." Pata estimates total visitor numbers to Thailand were down 16% year-on-year in January. "It's not a Ukrainian-style situation [in Bangkok]," said Mr Craigs. "Twenty-two people have been killed in three months in sporadic attacks by extremists. "Nothing has been closed: 98% of Bang

"he air traffic control system over the United Kingdom keeps the nation's airspace safe"