European tourism drops 1.5% year on year due to strong baht
In this photo taken on May 3, 2019, travellers from the US prepare to board a tuktuk outside a hotel to Suvarnabhumi international airport in Bangkok. - A strong Thai baht and a slowdown in arrivals from China are battering the kingdom's moneymaking tourism machine even as the country hopes to welcome a record 40 million visitors by the end of the year. (Photo by Romeo GACAD / AFP)
PHOTO: AFP
European tourist arrivals in Thailand are projected to decline by 1.5% (for the first eight months of this year) compared to 2018, to around 6.66 million. The malaise in the traditionally strong European tourist numbers is not as bad as anecdotally reported and has been partially made up with improvements from other regional demographics.
The figures were compiled by the Kasikorn Research Centre, as reported in The Nation.
Their report projects spending will be down 1% year on year, stating that tourists are adjusting their holiday budgets in response to the strong baht compared to their home currencies. But the Centre’s report expects the number of European tourist arrivals to be about the same for the last four months of 2019, in comparison to the same period last year.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports reported that 4.44 million European tourists visited from January-August this year, a 1.9% slump. The decline has been seen primarily in the markets of Russia, Germany, Sweden and France.
This year has been challenging for the tourism sector with Thailand facing a stronger baht and tougher competition with other regional destinations stepping up their tourism marketing campaigns.
SOURCE: The Nation
