Thailand, the second-largest economy in Southeast Asia, is set to revise its foreign tourist arrival target for 2025 to below 37 million following a recent decline in Chinese arrivals.
The new target could be adjusted to 35.54 million, which is roughly in line with last year’s figures,
Nation Thailand
reported citing Teerasil Tapen, deputy governor for policy and planning.
Despite this, total tourism revenue for the year remains strong at 3.4 trillion baht, an increase from the previous year’s 2.97 trillion baht.
Previously, Thailand had aimed for 37-38 million foreign arrivals this year,
Bangkok Post
reported.
Between January and April, Thailand welcomed 12.09 million foreign visitors, marking a slight decline of 0.26% compared to the same period last year.
A significant number of tourists canceled their plans to visit Bangkok during Songkran in mid-April due to safety concerns following the 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Myanmar that rattled Southeast Asia in late March.
The number of Chinese arrivals dropped sharply by 30% between January and April following the kidnapping of
Chinese actor Xing Xing
in the vicinity of the Thailand-Mynamar border in late January.