THE Chinese inbound traffic to Thailand is expected to hike significantly this year despite the recent Bangkok bombings and renminbi devaluation in China, according to a leading Thai research house.
“We expect Chinese tourist arrivals to grow more than 50 per cent this year,” Kangana Chockpisansin, head of Kasikorn Research Centre’s macroeconomic research unit told TTG Asia e-Daily.
One reason accounting for the optimism is the low base in 2014 caused by last year’s coup, which had been preceded by months of demonstrations.
Another reason was due to the visa fee exemption for Chinese visitors from August 1 to October 31 last year, which saw a good reception from the Chinese market, he added.
According to Kangana, Chinese tourist arrivals for the first seven months of 2015 reached 4.8 million, surging 114 per cent from the same period last year.
An expected slowdown in the number of Chinese arrivals later this year is likely to pull the overall Chinese growth figures down to a 56 per cent increase year-on-year though.
However, Kangana believes that measures by the Chinese government and People’s Bank of China to stabilise the situation will limit downsides.
Trade sentiments remain generally positive too. According to Charoen Wangananont, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, as of June 2015 inbound Chinese traffic grew nearly 100 per cent compared with mid-2014.
Despite the recent turmoil, Charoen is confident the national target of 28 million visitors in total will be met by year-end, estimating that 7.5 million of them will come from China.
