Economic fears and strong baht hit Thailand’s tourism growth
Thailand has reduced its expectations of tourism growth this year.
The country’s new tourism and sports minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn has downgraded its annual forecast to 39-39.8 million tourists, down slightly from projections at the start of the year of 40.2 million tourists.
The minister acknowledged the 40 million milestone would probably not be reached this year.
The Thailand Tourism Intelligence Centre projects 23.1 million foreign tourists from January to the end of August this year.
Fears of an economic downturn and the strong Thai Baht is hitting the industry, although the revised target would still represent positive growth.
One market which is bucking the trend and surging is India, which is up 24% year on year.
The tourism minister’s proposal to offer visa-free entry for Indian travellers and as well as to top source market China was knocked back by the Thai Cabinet recently.
However, the Cabinet has extended the current visa-on-arrival fee waiver until the end of April next year.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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