A comprehensive new survey of consumers in China’s first-tier cities has concluded that 53% of respondents would like to travel overseas within 2020.
Moreover 71% of those surveyed said they would like to travel to Thailand, with an interesting shift in the data : 83% or the respondents said they would rather choose independent travel versus group tours.
Thailand’s economy’s is highly dependent on Chinese tourism with nearly 11 million Chinese tourists coming to Thailand in 2019.
More than a quarter of inbound arrivals to Thailand are Chinese, and their spending is crucial for the Thai economy : 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.
But the Coronavirus crisis is keeping Thailand’s top vacation spenders away with a 95% decline in Chinese visitors in the first quarter of 2020.
Thailand has effectively closed its doors to non-resident foreigners under a state of emergency that came into force on March 26, bringing down tourist entries close to nil.
Data released by the Bank of Thailand shows that tourism is now down from 100 000 to just 1,800 daily entries.
Key Takeaway Points
• Most popular Thai destinations Chinese travellers want to visit in order of popularity are Bangkok, Phuket,…
