Thai tourism likely to hit rock bottom this year

The Tourism Authority of Thailand says both international and domestic tourism are likely to drop to an all-time low this year. The Bangkok Post reports that the TAT predicts international arrivals may only number 1 million, with domestic tourism dropping to just 50 – 60 million trips.

Yuthasak Supasorn from the TAT says the target of 3 million foreign arrivals is still in place but Thailand could see only a third of that figure, meaning a 74% drop in revenue compared to the first 2 months of 2020, before the pandemic hit. Domestic tourism is also likely to fall well short of this year’s target of 100 million trips, with local lockdowns and tight restrictions on travel, particularly if a 3-month lockdown is introduced to curb the spread of Covid-19.

Meanwhile, the Bangkok Post reports that as a worst-case scenario next year, the TAT has set a minimum target of 10 million foreign arrivals and 122 million domestic trips. These targets presume that the global Covid-19 situation remains unstable and that countries will still have travel restrictions in place. In this worst-case scenario, the TAT is forecasting around 625 billion baht in revenue from international arrivals and 680 billion baht from domestic tourism.

Should the Covid-19 situation improve globally, the best-case scenario would see Thailand welcoming 18 million foreign tourists in 2022, generating over 1 trillion baht in revenue, with 160 million domestic trips contributing 882 billion.

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SOURCE: Bangkok Post