Surprisingly strong plus
Tourism in Thailand is recovering
01/24/2023 10:01 am
The tourism industry accounts for about twelve percent of Thailand’s gross domestic product. The Corona crisis is therefore hitting the economy particularly hard. Now that the entry regulations have been relaxed, around two million guests are arriving again in December alone.
Tourism in Thailand recovered surprisingly strongly from the Corona crisis last year. 11.15 million foreign visitors came to the Southeast Asian country, according to data from the Ministry of Tourism. In 2021 – when there were far-reaching travel restrictions due to the pandemic – there were only around 428,000. Last December alone, 2.24 million guests were received – almost ten times as many as the year before.
The development exceeded government expectations. She is now trying to revive the tourism industry, which is so important for the economy. Before the pandemic, this made up around twelve percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the second largest economy in Southeast Asia. Hundreds of thousands of jobs depend on this branch of the economy.
The government therefore announced that it would invest the equivalent of more than 100 million euros in order to attract more guests. Despite the clear upward trend, the industry has not yet been able to regain the pre-crisis level. In 2019 there was a record number of almost 40 million foreign tourists.
Thailand relies on visitors from China
According to the ministry, most visitors came from Malaysia, India and Singapore last year. This year, the government expects 25 million international visitors, including at least five million from China, which was where most Thailand visitors came from before the pandemic. The end of the strict zero-Covid policy in the People’s Republic and the fact that travel is now possible again are expected to further boost tourism in Thailand.
The Thai holiday island of Phuket, which is also popular with German holidaymakers, suffered particularly badly from the Corona crisis. In the summer of 2021, at times only one percent of the usual number of visitors was reached. This is devastating for Phuket, where tourism accounts for about 90 percent of the local economy. Many Thais lost their jobs.