The number of tourists to Thailand has fallen by over 20 percent because of the country’s protests, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).

In several last months, foreigners only delayed their trips to Thailand. Recently about 400,000 international tourists cancelled their trips to the counry due to long-lasting protests and violence in some places, the agency said.

The Thai Ministry of Sports and Tourism forecast that the number of visitors to the country will continue falling in the time to come if the protest movement against the government remains lasting.

Thailand expects to welcome 26 million foreign tourists in 2013 and earned a total turnover of between 1,150 -1,170 billion baht, against its target of 28 million people and 1,300 billion baht in revenue.

In the first ten month of this year, the total number of foreign holiday-makers to Thailand increased by 21.2 percent to 24.14 million.

During the Jan-November period, the industry’s turnover reached a year-on-year increase of 21.7 percent, raking in 1,050 billion baht.

The Thai Government has set to make the tourism become the country’s spearhead economic sector, thus contributing to its economic growth.-VNA