Thailand’s tourism ministry is feeling even less optimistic about tourism arrivals growth this year.
Thailand’s new tourism and sports minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn has downgraded its annual forecast to 39-39.8 million, which is down slightly from prjections at the start of the year of 40.2 million tourists.
The minister acknowledged the 40 million milestone would probably not be reached this year.
The Thailand Tourism Intelligence Centre projects 23.1 million foreign tourists from January to the end of August this year.
Fears of an economic downturn and the strong Thai Baht is hitting the industry although the revised target would still represent positive growth.
One market which is bucking the trend and surging is India, which is up 24% year on year.
The tourism minister’s proposal to offer visa-free entry for Indian travellers and well as top source market China was knocked back by the Thai cabinet recently.
However the Cabinet has extended the current visa-on-arrival fee waiver to the end of April next year.
