The state planning unit looks set to upgrade its forecasts for tourism revenue and arrival numbers as it expects a surge of visitors from China after the country reopened its borders.
According to Danucha Pichayanan, secretary-general of the National Economic and Social Development Council (NESDC), this month’s resumption of Chinese tourism, with the first flight arriving in Thailand yesterday, would directly benefit the Thai economy.
“The agency is monitoring the situation regarding Chinese tourist arrivals and will take about 2-3 weeks to evaluate the forecast,” said Mr Danucha.
The NESDC currently expects tourism revenue to rise to 1.2 trillion baht from 23.5 million foreign tourist arrivals in 2023, up from 570 billion baht and 10.2 million arrivals in 2022. The forecast had assumed that Chinese tourists would only return in the second half of this year.
The…
