Tourist numbers from February 1-9 were down 43.4 per cent, said Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, and among Chinese visitors 86.5 per cent.
The drop in Chinese tourist numbers from January to April alone could cost the Thai economy $3.05 billion, according to The Tourism Authority of Thailand, not counting the revenue loss of other nationalities choosing to stay away.
Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn expects tourist arrivals to plunge by 50 per cent in the first half of this year because of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
A 50% reduction in tourist numbers in the first half would mean cutting the yearly prediction from 40 million entries in 2020 to 20 million.
The tourism and export sectors have been hit hard by the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, with a growing number of cases found in Thailand and the region.
This has led to the latest TCC Confidence Index for January 2020 showing a continuous decline from the previous year.
From zero dollar tour to zero booking
Arrivals booked by the Association of Thai Travel Agents dropped 99% from China and 71% overall for the first ten days of February compared with the same period last year, reports Reuters.
The sharp plunge in Chinese tourism income intensifies the pressure on Thailand’s economy, which already felt a squeeze on exports, severe drought in the…
