Thailand wins “most popular destination” and other awards from Chinese travel magazines

Many Chinese travel magazines are calling Thailand a top tourist destination, even if it’s very difficult for the Chinese to travel at this time. The Travel Weekly China Award called Thailand “The most anticipated destination- short haul.” WITrip Magazine called it “2021 most popular overseas travel destination.” Online Travel Agent Thong Cheng called it “the most popular destination.”

The Tourism Authority of Thailand has done a lot of work with China’s tourism sector to promote Thailand as a tourist destination. It has developed bespoke content and written feature articles to promote Thailand. China awarded TAT “best partner” and “excellent partner” honours. This was for its marketing and industry support. In November 2020, Thailand had lost its spot as a top destination for Chinese tourists.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Chinese tourists made up between 25-30% of visits. Thailand altogether had nearly 40 million tourists in 2019. But by November 2021, Thailand was reporting that it had lost about US$50 billion a year in tourism revenue. According to a member of the China Outbound Tourism Research Institute…

“The market will have changed so the Chinese people travelling in 2022 will be different from the Chinese travelling in 2019. I think the trends will go away from this shopping and rushing around.”

He also predicted travel would happen more often in small groups, not large.

SOURCE: The Pattaya News | Bangkok Post