Thailand’s tourism sector is grappling with a sharp decline in Chinese arrivals, forcing tourism agencies to lower expectations and step up efforts to attract more visitors.
In the first half of 2025, Chinese tourist numbers fell by 34% compared to last year, with only 2,265,556 arrivals recorded.
This downturn has pushed China into second place behind Malaysia, which saw 2,299,897 visitors during the same period despite a smaller decline of 5.58%.
Overall, Thailand welcomed 16,685,466 international tourists in the first six months of 2025, marking a 4.66% year-on-year drop.
Sisdivachr Cheewaratanaporn, Honorary President and Senior Advisor of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) estimated that Chinese arrivals for the full year could reach around 5 million, well below the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) earlier target of 6.9 million.
“If we market effectively and stimulate demand, we might see up to 6 million visitors… But that’s still less than the 6.7 million we had in 2024.”
Thanapol Cheewarattanaporn, President of ATTA, said China remains a critical market for Thailand’s tourism economy.
“Reducing our reliance completely is difficult… Our priority now is to maintain travel flows given the sheer size of the Chinese market base.”
He also urged the government to act faster to restore confidence among Chinese travellers.
“It’s quite slow now; half the year has passed. The private sector cannot work in isolation; the government must step in.”
After the Cabinet approved a 3.96 billion baht economic stimulus budget, TAT announced plans to dedicate funding to boost the charter flight market from China.
ATTA is waiting for a clear strategy to coordinate marketing activities during the second half of the year, which remains challenging due to global uncertainties and shifts in Chinese travel behaviour.
In response, ATTA will lead the Roadshow to China 2025 campaign between July 27 and August 2, visiting Chongqing, Lanzhou, and Hangzhou.
The campaign will bring Thai tourism operators to meet Chinese travel companies and promote destinations and services through business matching.
The effort aims to revive demand after Covid-19 disruptions and changes in Chinese consumer habits led to a 30 to 40% contraction in arrivals earlier this year, reported The Nation.
The story Thailand struggles to revive Chinese tourism as arrivals drop 34% as seen on Thaiger News.
