Thailand’s foreign tourist arrivals from January 1 to November 2 fell 7.22% from the same period a year earlier, the Tourism Ministry said on Tuesday.
During this period, there were 26.89 million foreign visitors, with Malaysia being the largest source market at 3.88 million visitors, followed by China with 3.8 million.
Last week, the Finance Ministry cut its forecast for foreign tourist arrivals this year to 33.5 million from the previous estimate of 34.5 million.
Thailand saw a record of nearly 40 million visitors in 2019, before the pandemic.
However, last October, the Finance Ministry’s Fiscal Policy Office revised the country’s GDP growth forecast higher to 2.4% for this year, up from the previous forecast of 2.2%, following a series of government stimulus measures and better-than-expected exports.
Exports, a key driver of Thai growth, are now projected to rise 10% this year, up from an earlier forecast of 5.5%.
Last year, the economy grew 2.5%, lagging behind its regional peers.