Primary tabs

Thailand wants rich Chinese tourists, not budget groups

Bloomberg Published on Wed, Jan 18, 2017 / 7:39 AM GMT+8

A-

A+

(Jan 18): Thailand is nursing a slide in Chinese holidaymakers after cracking down on low-budget tours from the world’s most-populous country, muddying the Southeast Asian nation’s economic growth outlook.

Arrivals fell about 30% in November from a year ago, extending a slide that began in September after Thailand clamped down on operators bringing in large groups from China on cut-price holidays. Some of the impact could linger in the early part of 2017, according to Kasikorn Research Center Co.

Thailand’s military government is seeking to focus on smaller groups of higher-spending visitors to bolster the tourism industry longer term. The unknown is the severity of the short-term pain. Chinese visitors last year were the most by headcount and tourism accounts for about 11% of Thailand’s US$395 billion ($559 billion) gross domestic product. Economic expansion was subdued even before the move against the so-called zero-dollar tour groups from China.