BANGKOK – Thailand reached its target of welcoming 10 million foreign visitors this year, signalling a better-than-expected recovery of its vital tourism sector that was nearly decimated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government held events across Thailand on Saturday, with cultural shows at seven airports and two border checkpoints to celebrate reaching the goal before the end of the year. Officials, some in vibrant traditional Thai outfits, handed out garlands and gift bags to tourists arriving via airports and land borders.
“We believe the sky after the rain is always clear. Today the sky is open, and so are our borders,” Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha told tourists at Bangkok’s international Suvarnabhumi Airport. “We won’t stop at this success. We will create more confidence that Thailand is still a global destination that’s more than ready to welcome travellers.”
The 10 million foreign arrivals are a drastic contrast to the fewer than half a million overseas visitors in 2021. Foreign tourist receipts should generate more than 500 billion baht (S$19.5 billion) in revenue by the end of 2022, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Tourism is a key growth driver and accounts for 12 per cent of Thailand’s economy, which is South-east Asia’s second-largest but has lagged regional peers. Consumer confidence rose for the sixth straight month in November to the highest level since March last year, supported mainly by higher tourism numbers.
The momentum is expected to continue in 2023, with a target of 20 million overseas arrivals and 1.5 trillion baht in foreign tourist receipts. That would put Thailand halfway to the number of foreign tourists seen in 2019, just before the pandemic, and 80 per cent of the revenue generated by foreign visitors back then.
The recovery may be faster, depending on how soon China reopens borders that have been shut due to its strict Covid-Zero policy and which has now started to ease. China was once the biggest source of tourists in Thailand, making up more than a quarter of 40 million international arrivals before the pandemic. BLOOMBERG
