Thailand’s tourism hard hit by COVID-19 pandemic

April 19, 2020 | 10:33

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Thailand is likely to welcome only 16 million foreign tourists in 2020, much lower than the pre-COVID-19 pandemic target of 40 million, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

thailands tourism hard hit by covid 19 pandemic

Check-in counter for passengers at the Suvarnabhumi airport passenger terminal is totally empty, as the outbreak hits the overall tourism industry. (Photo: bangkokpost.com)

The estimates have the country losing almost 24 million international tourist arrivals and 1.9 trillion baht (58.4 billion USD) in revenue.

The TAT also forecast the number of domestic holiday-makers stand at 60 million, far below the target of 172 million before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Total revenue of the tourism sector is estimated at 1.12 trillion baht (34.4 billion USD) in 2020, down 62.8 percent from the record 3.01 trillion baht in 2019.

TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said that this revised forecast assumes tourism activities can resume in May, with the outbreak in Thailand levelling off while overseas infections subside.

The industry needs to watch the situation closely before commencing business, he noted, adding while the number of new COVID-19 cases in Thailand is falling on a daily basis, the tourism sector can't drop its guard. Instead it should wait for the related authorities to give the final say on when to lift the lockdown or travel restrictions.

Tourism has been the driving force for Thailand’s growth in recent years. Before the COVID-19 outbreak, the country expected that revenues from the industry would contribute at least 20 percent to the nation’s GDP this year. However, tourism was the first industry hard hit by the pandemic.

Statistics showed that the sector’s revenue decreased by nearly 40 percent in the first quarter to 335 billion baht, while the number of foreign tourists fell by 38 percent to 6.7 million.

By April 18, the country had recorded 2,733 infection cases, including 47 fatalities.

VNA

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