Bangkok – CBRE, a leading international property consultant, believes that Thai tourism market is still as resilient as ever.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MOTS) announced they are expecting more than 40 million tourists to visit Thailand this year, up from the record-breaking 38.3 million in 2018. According to the latest number released by MOTS, the first two months of 2019 showed a 2.5% Y-o-Y growth in international tourist arrivals at 7.3 million, compared to 7.1 million the previous year.
In the first two months of 2019, the total number of Chinese tourist arrivals decreased slightly by 2.2% Y-o-Y from 2.17 million in 2018 to 2.12 million. Chinese tourist arrivals in February, the month in which the Chinese New Year was celebrated this year, decreased by 12.3% Y-o-Y.
Looking back at 2018, there was a 23.8% M-o-M jump in Chinese tourist arrivals from 0.97 million in January to 1.20 million in February. This year, it was a 1.5% M-o-M decrease in the same market.
Other key feeder markets like Malaysia, India, Korea, and Japan showed double-digit growth in the first two months, with India having the highest figure at 20.1% Y-o-Y. Even though the combined number of tourists from these four feeder markets was smaller than that of the Chinese market alone, this positive trend could help lessen the impact from the…
