Still reeling from drop in Chinese visitors, earthquake gives new blow to Thai tourism
International tourist arrivals are expected to drop by 10 per cent to 15 per cent or even more in the next two weeks as Friday’s 7.7 earthquake shook buildings in Bangkok and other Thai tourist hotspots, spooking prospective travellers, the Thai Hotels Association said.
About 10 per cent of foreign tourists checked out early after the quake, said Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, president of the association, citing an initial survey among the group’s members. Some tourists, however, later returned to their hotels as they had no other options, he said.
“A short-term impact is expected for the tourism industry because of safety concerns,” Thienprasit said by phone on Saturday.
Even a short-lived effect on tourist arrivals will hurt an economy where the industry employs one in five of the country’s workforce and accounts for about 13 per cent of gross domestic product.
Thai authorities are betting on an improved tourism performance to propel growth to 3 per cent this year as merchandise exports, another key driver of growth, faces headwinds from the Trump administration’s trade tariffs.
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