Thailand is expected to complete its goal of welcoming nearly 37 million international visitors this year, nearly equal to the heyday of 40 million in 2019.
Thailand is on track to achieve its full-year target of 36.7 million international visitors. According to online travel platform Agoda Holdings, by 2025, the number of visitors to Thailand may surpass the peak in 2019.
If you want to find an example of a country’s tourism industry returning from its peak of glory to zero due to the pandemic, Thailand is the first name that many people mention. In 2019, this country welcomed 39.9 million international visitors, a record in the country’s history. In 2020, that number decreased to 400,000.
Chinese tourists were welcomed by Thai dancers at Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok in September 2023. Image: AFP
The pandemic has dealt a blow to Thailand, whose tourism sector contributes nearly a fifth of the economy’s output and 20% of employment. The International Monetary Fund described the drop in tourist arrivals during the first year of the pandemic in Thailand as an “abrupt stop”.
This situation persisted for the next two years. In 2023, the number of monthly visitors to Thailand will exceed two million but still low compared to the average of 3.5 million in 2019. The impact of the pandemic on tourism is most clearly seen in the number of Chinese visitors. Mainland countries have decreased, this is also the source of visitors that makes Thailand most concerned about recovery. Despite using many stimulus measures, at the end of last year, the number of Chinese visitors still accounted for only 13% of arrivals, while in 2019, this number was 28%.
“Chinese customers are not too impatient to get on a plane to go abroad, which has surprised many people, not just Thailand,” said Ananth Ramchandran, director of consulting and strategy in Asia at CBRE, an investment and service company. US Commercial Real Estate Department, said.
In fact, two years after China reopened its borders, the number of Chinese visitors to Thailand is still very low compared to 2019. In 2024, Chinese visitors to Thailand will reach 6 million, but account for less than 20% of the total number. international visitors. During Golden Week in early October in China, according to data from HSBC bank, the number of flight tickets to Thailand from China was not even in the top 10.
However, the problem of lack of Chinese tourists does not cause too much damage to the Thai economy. In a sign of the country’s resilience, the hotel industry is doing better than in 2019. In Bangkok and Phuket, average room prices during peak months are 17-22% higher than in 2019.
In Phuket, this year’s occupancy rate compared to 2019 was only a few percent lower, but revenue was about 20% higher. At some famous tourist destinations such as Koh Samui, the occupancy rate exceeded pre-epidemic levels.
Instead of relying on Chinese tourists, Thailand has sought to compensate for the lack of tourists from other source markets. The number of international visitors, excluding China, to Thailand has been equal to pre-epidemic levels, since the beginning of the year. Average monthly revenue per capita in the first three quarters of the year was also close to the level of the whole of 2019.
One of the driving forces behind the recovery of Thai tourism is the spectacular growth of Indian visitors. According to global data provider OAG, the capacity of airlines on some routes between the two countries has exceeded 2019.
The Thai tourism industry’s good performance this year is partly due to the return of mass tourism, fueled by pent-up demand from tourists during the pandemic years as well as increased flights and routes. . Hotels are big beneficiaries of these trends.
During the pandemic, hotels were the first industry to suffer but also the first to recover. The ability to adjust prices daily is a big advantage for the industry, according to Nihat Ercan, Asia-Pacific CEO of British real estate company JLL. The amount of capital invested in hotels in Thailand this year is 80% higher than the annual average for the period 2011-2020.
In addition, Thailand’s tourism industry returned to its peak this year thanks in part to the government’s efforts to make the country a more attractive destination in the eyes of international visitors. Highly effective measures such as loosening visa policies for visitors from Thailand’s main transit markets, including China. This program allows visitors from 93 countries and territories to stay in Thailand for 60 days without needing a visa.
CBRE’s Ramchandran said the visa waiver program was introduced by Thailand amid concerns about a decline in international visitors, especially from China. In the end, the worry and effort paid off. China has regained its position as the largest tourist sending market to Thailand in 2024, although it has not yet reached the record number of 11 million visitors in 2019.
Thailand’s goal of welcoming 9 million Chinese visitors by 2025 proves the importance of this tourist market. However, the Thai government expects the number of visitors to exceed the pre-epidemic record, showing that if Chinese visitors have not recovered by 2025, it is not a big problem.