BANGKOK — Tourism Authority of Thailand cites safety concerns and negative online sentiment as it lowers expectations for Chinese visitors, while launching a 3.5 billion baht ($108.5 million) recovery plan including the “Sawasdee Ni Hao” campaign to rebuild trust and maintain overall tourist arrivals at 35.5 million.
Thapanee Kiatphaiboon, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), explained that the main problem affecting Thailand’s tourism sector is fear, lack of trust and the overwhelming flood of negative sentiments on the internet. This has particularly affected sensitive markets such as China.
She acknowledged that Thailand cannot afford to ignore Chinese tourists. Without them, Thailand cannot maintain the total number of international visitors.
TAT now forecasts 35.5 million international tourist arrivals in 2025, the same number as in 2024, with foreign tourism receipts expected to grow by at least 10%, from 1.67 trillion baht ($50.9 billion) in 2024 to 1.83 trillion baht ($55.8 billion) this year.
For domestic tourism, the target remains at 205 million domestic trips, generating revenue of 1.17 trillion baht ($35.7 billion). This brings the projected total revenue from tourism, both domestic and international, to 3 trillion baht ($91.5 billion) in 2025, which is equivalent to the total revenue in 2019 before the pandemic.
Cuts Chinese Tourist Target to 4M
As for Chinese tourists, the worst-case scenario for 2025 assumes only 4 million arrivals if the situation fails to improve and more uncontrollable factors arise. However, if the current atmosphere can be stabilized and confidence restored, arrivals could reach 6.7 million, the same level as in 2024, helping sustain the market’s momentum.
“The Chinese tourism market is currently influenced by several factors, especially safety concerns regarding Thailand’s image. Chinese tourists are afraid and reluctant to travel, which affects the marketing of charter flights by tour operators. It is feared that this will eventually affect scheduled flights as well,” said Thapanee.
“At the moment, we need to support the Chinese charter flight market. The first condition for support is a guaranteed load factor of at least 85%”
$108.5 Million Recovery Plan
TAT intends to seek a 3.5 billion baht ($108.5 million) budget from the government to revitalize both domestic and international tourism. This “booster shot” will fund three main projects aimed at stimulating these markets. Acknowledging the current decline in international tourist numbers, TAT proposes allocating a portion of the requested budget to sustain activity in foreign markets while continuing to promote domestic tourism.
The proposed budget will fund the following three projects:
- Co-payment Domestic Tourism Scheme:
Aimed at encouraging Thai citizens to travel during the low season. Recent discussions suggest the number of eligible rights will be reduced to under 1 million, with each person limited to a maximum of 10 rights. - Joint Promotion with Online Travel Agencies (OTAs):
Targeting Free Independent Travelers (FITs), this initiative involves collaboration with major global OTAs to run worldwide promotional campaigns. - Joint Promotion with Airlines for the Chinese Market:
TAT will support both regular and charter flights, giving more emphasis to charter flights, as regular flights already benefit from OTA collaborations.
Sawasdee Ni Hao Campaign
In addition to these three projects, TAT will launch its own marketing initiative “Sawasdee Ni Hao” on May 29, 2025. The campaign will bring 500 Chinese participants, 300 tour operators and 200 media representatives and key opinion leaders (KOLs) from all provinces in China, to experience Thailand first-hand.
Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra is expected to preside over the opening ceremony of the Mega Family Trip. The aim is to inform participants on how the Thai government is dealing with the problems that have affected the confidence of Chinese tourists and to restore trust in Thailand as a tourist destination.
“Addressing the current situation is a big challenge and must be done at the G2G (government-to-government) level,” Thapanee said. “The Minister of Tourism and Sports, Suriya Tein Thong, intends to formally invite the Chinese Minister of Culture and Tourism to the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of –diplomatic relations between Thailand and China in July this year,” said TAT Governor.
No Official Chinese Travel Ban to Thailand
Natriya Thaweewong, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, has confirmed on May 8 that there is no official travel ban or warning issued by the Chinese government regarding travel to Thailand.
The Thai government has thoroughly investigated rumors about an official Chinese travel restriction and firmly denies any such policy exists. According to Thaweewong, while there have been isolated incidents of individuals receiving fake warning calls discouraging travel to Thailand, these cases are limited and appear to be random, primarily targeting travelers to secondary cities. Thai security agencies are intensively working to prevent and suppress these malicious actors.
Regarding concerns about passport application warnings, Thaweewong explained that Chinese citizens applying for or renewing passports were receiving automated cautions about traveling to Thailand. However, these warnings were related to a past earthquake, and Thai authorities have already requested their removal. The process to eliminate these alerts is being expedited.
The tourism outlook is showing positive signs following China’s Labor Day holiday period. Groups of elderly Chinese tourists have begun arriving in Thailand, partly due to lower airfares after the Labor Day peak travel period. Additionally, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has received inquiries about bringing student groups to visit during July and August of this year.
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