The decline of the Yuan and a video showing a tourist accident contribute to the drop in Chinese visitors to Thailand
Pongpanu Svetarundra, Permanent Secretary of Tourism of the Kingdom of Thailand, announced that the number of Chinese visitors would have decreased by more than 20% in October compared to the previous year.
After a boating accident in July, filmed and broadcast on social networks, that killed around ten Chinese tourists, their number fell by 12% in August and 15% in September.
Slightly impacting the number of international arrivals in October (-0.5%) compared to the previous year, the government is working on several measures to support the tourism industry: a series of promotions of the country abroad and the waiver of visa fees upon arrival for citizens of 20 countries.
The travel and tourism industry, which plays a key role in the national economy, contributed directly to 4.6% of GDP in 2017 according to the WTTC and created more than 2.3 million jobs (6.2% of all jobs) that same year.
