Chinese tourist arrivals in Thailand set to hit pre-pandemic levels

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced that Chinese tourist arrivals are set to reach one million a month starting from October, a figure last witnessed prior to the pandemic. The increase in travel is likely to gain momentum during winter and long national holidays.

TAT has observed a rise in advanced hotel bookings and chartered flight requests, indicating a swell in arrivals. Chuwit Sirivejkul, regional director for East Asia at TAT, elaborated on these trends at a briefing held on Tuesday.

The comeback of Chinese travellers is considered a blessing for the economy during its recovery amid global slowdown challenges. Before the Covid pandemic, more than 25% of all visitors to the country were from China. Group travel for Chinese tourists has been allowed since February, following Beijing’s abandonment of its Covid-Zero policy.

Data from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports revealed that Chinese tourist arrivals soared to around 270,000 in March, up from less than 100,000 in January. Chuwit stated that daily arrivals from China have averaged between 8,000 and 10,000 since February 6, when group travel permissions were granted.

Although TAT maintains an official forecast of five million Chinese visitors for this year, the number could potentially rise as high as seven million depending on flight availability during the high season, which runs from October to March.

Official data has shown that overall tourist arrivals have surpassed two million every month between December and April. The Ministry of Finance projects international arrivals to reach 29.5 million this year, more than double last year’s figure of 11.2 million. Despite this increase, the expected number is still significantly below the record 40 million witnessed in 2019.