Thailand’s tourism struggles as Chinese visitors decline, experts urge focus on new opportunities

Thailand’s tourism sector sees a dip in international visitors, with a major decline in Chinese tourists. Experts urge a focus on improving safety and targeting new markets to boost recovery.

From January 1 to July 5, 2025, Thailand welcomed 16.8 million international tourists, a 5% decrease compared to the same period last year. Of these, 67.1% were from nearby markets, and 32.9% from long-haul markets. The number of tourists from nearby markets dropped by 12.20%, with East Asia seeing a significant decrease of 24.81%, mainly due to a slowdown in Chinese tourism. Meanwhile, long-haul markets have seen a positive increase of 14.88% compared to last year.

Thailand’s tourism sector is facing challenges from the structural changes in its market, especially the slowdown of Chinese tourists, which has traditionally been a major source market. The decline is partly due to concerns over safety perceptions surrounding travel to Thailand. From January 1 to July 5, 2025, the number of Chinese tourists dropped by 34.23% compared to 2019, before the pandemic, when 11.1 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand out of 39.8 million total international visitors, accounting for 28%, or about 925,000 per month.

Currently, Chinese tourists make up only 13.58% of the total. If the trend continues, Thailand is expected to receive only 4-5 million Chinese tourists in 2025, the first time in 12 years that numbers will fall below 5 million (excluding the Covid-19 period and post-recovery).

The loss of Chinese tourists has had a significant impact on Thailand’s tourism revenue target. While Malaysia has overtaken China as the top source market, with 2.36 million tourists compared to China’s 2.32 million, Malaysian tourists spend much less. Chinese tourists typically stay for 7.36 days and spend an average of 42,428 baht per trip, compared to Malaysia’s 4.17-day stays and 21,450 baht spending.

However, markets such as India, Japan, Singapore, Australia, South Korea, the UK, and the US have seen growth. Although long-haul markets have higher spending, averaging 81,482 baht per trip compared to around 50,000 baht for short-haul markets, their smaller volume (28%) isn’t enough to fully compensate for the drop in Chinese tourism. Additionally, the global economic slowdown and geopolitical issues have led to more cautious spending from long-haul tourists.Thailand is not only facing issues related to safety concerns from Chinese tourists but is also contending with increased competition, particularly from Japan and Vietnam. The depreciation of the yen has led more Chinese tourists to visit Japan, which has now seen over 3.1 million Chinese visitors, surpassing Thailand. Additionally, the stronger Thai baht has made Vietnam an increasingly popular destination for Chinese travellers.

Yuthasak Supasorn, former Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), stated that the outlook for Thai tourism this year may not meet targets for both the number of tourists and revenue due to the decline in tourist numbers and the global economic downturn. While there are positive signs from other markets, such as South Asia, Europe, the US, and the Middle East, these do not fully replace the loss from China.

“The Chinese market is vital, and we need to quickly pursue an aggressive marketing strategy. Rebuilding the 1 million Chinese tourists who have stopped coming could bring in 40-50 billion baht to the Thai economy. Thailand must urgently address safety concerns, introduce new selling points, and utilise promotions and value-driven offers to attract Chinese tourists back,” Yuthasak concluded.

(2025/07/09-00:00)