Thailand eyes tourists from Southeast Asia, Middle East to make up for Chinese tourists

By VNA July 17, 2025 | 05:02 pm PT

A group of Vietnamese tourists pose for photos in Bangkok in August 2023. Photo by Tran Lan Anh

Thailand aims to boost tourist arrivals and spending from the Middle East and Southeast Asia to help offset declining revenue largely caused by a drop in visitors from China.

According to Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Thapanee Kiatpaibool, the Middle East market is a supporting factor helping to boost tourism revenue as it currently has a growth of about 17% to 18%. Therefore, Thailand aims to increase the volume of arrivals from the Middle East and airlines.

TAT lowered its 2025 foreign arrival forecast to 35 million, down from 40 million, due to weaker-than-expected Chinese tourism. Total revenue is projected at about 2.8 trillion THB (US$86 billion), consisting of 1.6 trillion THB from foreign visitors and the rest coming from domestic travelers.

China sent 2.3 million visitors to Thailand in the first half of 2025, down from 3.4 million a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

Attracting Chinese tourists remains a priority, but the agency is also targeting other markets. Oceania and Southeast Asia are seen as pivotal for boosting demand and offsetting the drop in Chinese visitors.

In 2026, TAT plans a "value over volume" strategy, aiming for a 7% revenue increase by attracting higher-spending tourists with a lower environmental impact.

The tourism industry makes up about 12% of Thailand's gross domestic product. Year-to-date tourist arrivals to Thailand totaled 17.2 million as of July 6, down 5.1% from the same period a year ago. Tourism generated 794.7 billion THB of revenue in the period, according to the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports.