Why Thailand attracts millions of Chinese tourists

Thailand attracts many Chinese tourists

Bloomberg predicted earlier this month that the number of Chinese tourists to Thailand will “certainly” reach one million a month as tourism activities pick up during the winter and long holidays.

The Bangkok Post also reported that 12,805 flights from China landed in Thailand from October 2022 to April this year. Thai air traffic controller Nopasit Chakpitak estimated that flights from China would reach more than 7,000 by September.

Experts say the increasing frequency of flights from China has contributed to the increase in the number of Chinese tourists visiting the Golden Temple.

Thailand previously met its first-quarter tourism target by welcoming 9.47 million foreign visitors (as of May 20), generating revenue of about 391 billion baht (11 billion USD), according to Bloomberg.

Many countries have difficulty attracting Chinese tourists.

Japan is trying to reach its target of attracting more than 10 million tourists from China, but the appeal of popular destinations in Tokyo, Osaka and Okinawa is said to be insufficient to lure them back.

Australia is facing a similar problem. In February, the Oceania nation recorded just over 40,000 short-term visitors from China, 20% of the number of visitors in the same period in 2019. The number of flights between the two countries in the coming months is forecast to be just 51% of 2019 levels, according to Tourism Australia.

Not being on the Chinese government’s recommended travel list is a major obstacle for countries waiting for the Chinese to return. In the wake of the pandemic, Beijing has released two lists of countries suitable for its citizens to visit.

The initial list, released on February 6, included 20 countries including Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, New Zealand, Singapore, Russia and South Africa. The list of 40 additional countries was released on March 10, including Vietnam, Nepal, France and Spain.

Thailand's Challenge

Despite promising tourism growth prospects, Thailand is facing some challenges in attracting Chinese tourists, such as a shortage of Chinese-speaking workers and an inability to secure financial technology to meet Chinese spending.

“More than 500,000 Chinese tourists visited Thailand in the first quarter of this year. However, the total of 237,000 tourists in April was below expectations,” said a statement from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

In addition, some Chinese tourists are complaining about higher prices, being scammed, and experiencing worse service than before here. Negative information about Thai tourism in recent times has continuously received attention from the Chinese public.

According to Global Times (China), the phrase "safety of tourists when coming to Thailand" has led trending topics on social networks such as Weibo and WeChat, attracting hundreds of millions of views and searches.

Zhang Yu, a tour guide in Chiang Mai, revealed that local travel agencies have recently seen a series of service orders from Chinese tourists being canceled due to “safety” reasons.

To address this situation, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) plans to invite influential Chinese people to visit Thailand to boost confidence in tourism safety, through an event held later this month.

According to Zing