Bangkok (VNA) – A stagnant economy, rising geopolitical tensions, falling purchasing power and increasing travel costs are among the factors that have kept the number of Thais traveling abroad below expectations.
Thailand’s outbound tourism industry is estimated to grow only 5-7% year on year in 2024 with a projected 10 million Thais visiting overseas destinations, according to the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA).
TTAA president Charoen Wangananont said this number is still lower than that before the COVID-19 outbreak, when some 12 to 13 million Thais were travelling overseas every year.
Charoen said the fact that baht has become stronger in the past months has not helped boost outbound tourism very much, as costs for overseas travel have also increased this year, adding that hotel fees, food and transport expenses have gone up by 10-15% on average.
The TTAA estimated that in 2024 Japan will remain the top destination among Thai tourists, as it has for the past several years.
The Japan National Tourism Organisation (JNTO) has reported that Thai tourists to the country in the first nine months of this year, totalling 752,000, were ranked in sixth place after visitors from the Republic of Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong (China) and the US. The figure rose by 19.2% year on year but dropped 13.4% from the same period in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic./.
