Malaysia has overtaken China as the largest inbound tourism market for Thailand in the first half of this year, while tourism operators say they have little hope that Asian markets will rise in the low season.
In the first six months, Thailand welcomed 16.6 million foreign arrivals, dipping 4.6% year-on-year, according to the Tourism and Sports Ministry.
Only four markets had more than 1 million tourists for the period: Malaysia, China, India and Russia.
Malaysia posted 2.29 million arrivals and China 2.26 million, registering declines of 5.59% and 34.1% respectively, followed by the Indian market at 1.18 million arrivals, up 13.8%, and Russia at 1.03 million, a gain of 12.3%.
The Association of Chonburi Tourism Federation said the outlook in the third quarter would remain unchanged as the Chinese market might not significantly improve.
In the long run, the federation said Thailand still faces challenges based on its declining reputation among Chinese travellers, especially the perception that it no longer offers good value for money.
Many travellers have shifted to Vietnam, which is more competitive in terms of price, the federation said.
