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Thailand's tourist arrivals may grow less than 5% this year - industry body


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Thailand's tourist arrivals may grow less than 5% this year - industry body

By Satawasin Staporncharnchai

 

2020-01-15T090921Z_1_LYNXMPEG0E0RY_RTROPTP_3_THAILAND-TOURISM.JPG

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand is expected to see a less than 5% increase in overall foreign tourist arrivals this year due to a global economic slowdown, intensifying competition and a strong currency baht <THB=TH>, a tourism body said on Wednesday.

 

The country welcomed a record 39.7 million foreign visitors last year, but missed a target of 40 million - partly due to the very strong baht, Chairat Triratanajaraspon, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, told Reuters.

 

"The number of tourists is still rising but not much. We used to see more than 10% growth earlier, but this year we expect less than 5%," he said.

 

Tourism is a key driver of Thailand's economy, but the strength of its currency has cut tourists' purchasing power, particularly of those from China, Thailand's biggest source of visitors, Chairat said.

 

The council predicts the number of Chinese visitors this year to be around last year's 11 million, as more Chinese holidaymakers are travelling to other countries in Asia, he said.

 

Another reason that Chinese tourist numbers are not seen growing much is the baht, which rose 10.7% against the Chinese yuan last year, and "that has had quite a big impact", he said.

 

The baht was also Asia's best performing currency with a nearly 9% rise against the dollar in 2019.

 

The council expects about 800,000 Chinese tourists to visit Thailand during the Lunar New Year later this month, close to last year's numbers, Chairat said.

 

However, the number of India tourists are expected to jump more than 30% this year from more than 2 million in 2019, as the base is still small, he said.

 

"They mainly come here to hold weddings and for honeymoon," he said. "So we should target this market with higher purchasing power."

 

India is Thailand's third biggest source of tourists after China and Malaysia.

 

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-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-01-15
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Tourists from Europe "incapable of expanding"? Has everyone come here and been ripped off & swore "never again"?

"Free independent traveler" (FIT) now "targeted". Isn't this the group that is so often maligned, "Backpackers"?

What have they missed? ET's? "Exiled Thais", people like Ying Luck, Son of Red Bull?

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4 hours ago, webfact said:

the European market is incapable of expanding, Chairat said.

Proof, if it's ever needed, that the tourism authorities don't have a clue what they are talking about.

Some European countries have hardly been touched by tourism yet.

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32 minutes ago, Tidybeard said:

This is TOTAL BS. 

Here on Samui, hotel occupancy ( from some of my GM friends ) has been down at around 40% to 50% for the main peak weeks over Xmas / New Year. The restaurants are mostly empty, many have given up and closed. There are many shops that have disappeared and "for rent" notices that have appeared in the windows. The roads have been suspiciously quiet when normally there is chaos at this time of year.

 

Why do these officials still make this BS up, why not face the reality and do something about it ?

that place is screwed imo

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2 minutes ago, Pdavies99 said:

Wait until the Chinese Swine Flu hits and starts killing, then we will see what happens!

 

Not a great picture  but the truth!

If you mean African Swine Fever (?) that is not a threat to humans.

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