Plunge in arrivals from China may lead to Bt100 bn loss for tourism
The number of Chinese tourist arrivals in Thailand is expected to decline by 2.4 million in the first half of this year as a result of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the country, according to TMB Analytics, an economic analysis division of TMB Bank.
The decline in arrivals from China is estimated to cost the tourism sector more than Bt100 billion this year.
The sector will be hit hard in the first quarter of the year, with many holidays on the chinese calendar, before the situation improves in the mid of the year.
TMB Analytics estimated that the number of foreign tourist arrivals in Thailand this year will fall to 38.7 million from 40.8 million in its previous forecast.
The revenue of the tourism and related sectors is expected to decline by over Bt100 billion, of which over Bt70 billion loss will be seen in the hotel, restaurant and retail segments.
By sector, the hotel business is expected to face revenue loss of Bt28.4 billion, retail Bt28.4 billion, and restaurants Bt18.9 billion. 7,500 hotels are expected to be affected, especially those located in Bangkok, Phuket, Chonburi, Krabi, Surat Thani, Chiang Mai and Pang-Nga. The seven provinces, popular with Chinese tourists, have a total of 4,763 properties, accounting for 65 per cent of all hotels in Thailand.
