Despite Sluggish Chinese Arrivals, Thailand Tourism Hits Targets in 2023

It’s a surprise to no one, but Thailand’s tourism industry is bouncing back in a big way this year. Tourism officials had predicted a total of 25 million international arrivals by the end of 2023, but by the end of July, the country had already reached 15.32 million arrivals, with another 2.4 million added to the total by the end of August. The new target for 2023 is 28 million.

The country welcomed a record number of 40 million international tourists in 2019, with the Chinese market leading all others and accounting for 27.6%, 11 million arrivals. However this year, the Chinese market has not rebounded as quickly as Thai officials would have liked.

Internally, China is facing a weaker yuan and grim unemployment figures. This has caused regional travel hubs to pare down their expectations. Thailand lowered the forecasted 5 million arrivals to only 3 million for the year.

In efforts to boost the Chinese numbers, Thailand has introduced visa-free travel for a 6-month trial, until February 2024. After this policy was announced, there was a 30% surge in accommodation and flight bookings from China. This was encouraging going into the “Golden Week” travel holidays, and fed into the upcoming holiday and Lunar Season.

While Australia ranks at 16th globally on Thailand’s list for arrivals, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) would like to see this ranking improve. TAT officials see Australia as a “high-quality tourist market.”

Prior to Covid, 771,798 Australians visited Thailand, generating revenue of AUD 2.3 billion, with an average length of stay of 13.29 days. (Source: TAT turns its sights on Australia)

For this year, TAT originally set a target of 522,000 Australian tourists. This number had already been exceeded by the end of July. The projection for 2023 is now set at 654,422 tourists, or about 84% of the pre-Covid (2019) level.

“I would not be surprised if we see 1 million Australians in Thailand in the next year or two,” said Chad Egan, CEO of GPFG. “Thailand continues to be at the top of the list for one of the best destinations in the world for its incredible beauty and culture, stunning beaches, and amazing food. What’s not to love? Our property investor clients have a very keen interest in our developments there, knowing that the returns will be very strong in the coming years.”