News Forum - Thai tourism set to soar with anticipated Chinese visa exemption

[Thaiger]

The Thai tourism industry is poised for a significant boost, as an anticipated visa exemption for Chinese travellers could trigger a surge in foreign tourists, according to Chinese government-owned Thai brokerage, CGS-CIMB Securities (Thailand). However, the firm predicts that the arrival figures will still lag behind the 2019 statistics due to the economic challenges faced … …

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[ChrisS]

"eliminating the visa requirement may prompt a large influx of foreign tourists, particularly group travellers"

But will these be quality money spending tourists or a return to the Chinese groups of the past who spend nothing.

[Khunmark]

I would suggest the drop is, in part,  because of the recent spate of Chinese kidnappings that have occurred in Thailand. Many won’t travel to Thailand over safety concerns.

[Leo]

1 hour ago, Khunmark said:

I would suggest the drop is, in part,  because of the recent spate of Chinese kidnappings that have occurred in Thailand. Many won’t travel to Thailand over safety concerns.

Plus, flights from/to China are still expensive, plus hotel rates that are increasing. I just checked, RT flights on budget airlines are an average of 20,000 baht, and on China Eastern etc. about 30,000 baht. That is double what they were pre-Covid. 

The elephant in the room of course is that there is huge economic downturn in China, record youth unemployment, a property market crisis, and that spending 40,000 baht (minimum, just for flight+hotel)) to go to Thailand for 2 weeks is not a priority to them.