Sluggish spending delays tourism recovery
Despite 20 million foreign arrivals in the first nine months of the year, the tourism index has still plunged below the regular rate as operators witnessed sluggish spending due to global economic concerns and a high level of household debt, according to the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT).
Chamnan Srisawat, president of the TCT, said the high level of household debt remained the most critical concern in the third quarter, which was reflected via the tourism confidence index of 69, dropping from 91 in the same period of 2019, and 74 and 72 in the first and second quarters of this year, respectively.
As a “‘normal” level of confidence is benchmarked at 100, the current index indicates that the country’s tourism industry has yet to return to normal and would have to wait until the fourth quarter to see the visa-free scheme for the Chinese create positive momentum in order to secure 25-30 million tourists as TCT projected for this year.
Bangkok Post Reporter
