Foreign tourists dressed in colourful costumes pose for photos during a visit to Wat Arun. Varuth Hirunyatheb
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is closely monitoring the revival of tourism ties between China and Japan, as this could potentially affect the inbound Chinese market to Thailand in the second half of the year, while the impacts of the Middle East conflict have yet to completely subside.A number of Chinese tour agents had reportedly resumed selling tour packages to Japan for July and August, but some of them paused sales after the issue gained public attention last week.
Pattaraanong Na Chiangmai, deputy governor for international marketing in Asia and the South Pacific at TAT, said Thai tourism operators had also enquired with TAT about the development, but so far there has been no confirmation on the issue.
She said it was possible that the restrictions from China would be loosened, and the agency would take this factor into account when planning its marketing strategy for the Chinese market in the second half.
In the first five months, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan plummeted by 52% to 1.7 million, mainly attributed to restrictions on Chinese tour groups.
