Chinese holidaymakers are taking their tourist dollars elsewhere after ferry disaster in Thailand that killed 47 earlier this year
- The Chinese make up about a quarter of Thailand’s 35 million annual visitors, but their numbers are down by up to 20 per cent year on year
A ferry disaster that killed dozens of Chinese tourists in Thailand earlier this year has sent visitor numbers plunging from the kingdom’s single largest market.
The Chinese make up about a quarter of Thailand’s 35 million annual visitors – drawn by cheap beach holidays, renowned food and Bangkok nightlife.
But in July a ferry carrying mostly Chinese tourists back to the resort island of Phuket sank, killing 47.
August recorded an immediate dip of 12 per cent and September brought 15 per cent fewer Chinese than the same months last year.
October was the hardest hit, with the tourism ministry reporting on Wednesday a same-period decrease of about 20 per cent – or 160,000 people – from 2017. About US$476 million was lost in tourism spending over the three-month period.
Thailand has seen tourism slowdowns before, following a bombing in 2015 in central Bangkok and a military coup in 2014.