Illustrative image (Photo: Reuters) Bangkok (VNA) – The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) said about 10 percent of businesses in the country’s tourism industry have closed with almost 540,000 workers laid-off due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Bangkok Post quoted the council’s president Chairat Trirattanajarasporn as saying that tourism operators in the southern and central region seem to be the most affected as they heavily rely on foreigners.
Other business sectors that took a hit include entertainment venues forced to close during the lockdown, hotels and theme parks.
Chairat said 400,000 tourism workers lost their jobs during the third quarter of the year as three per cent of companies shut down and seven percent temporarily closed.
Although 88 percent of companies continue to operate, 13 percent reduced employee headcount by 30 percent, causing 137,280 to lose their jobs.
He said that the by year-end, the number of unemployed will rise to more than one million if the government cannot implement effective aid measures and allow more international tourists into the country.
The number of tourists will depend on the reopening plan from the government, but the limited number of 1,200 tourists per month is inadequate to help the tourism industry recover, according to him.
TCT estimates that Thailand will only welcome 6.74 million international tourists this year, down 83.1 percent compared to last year, with an estimated revenue of 337 billion THB, a dip of 82.6 percent./.
VNA
