A report by the BBC's Thai team suggested that Thailand's tourism would not recover without the return of Chinese tourists. ASEAN NEWS

Reuters file photo for reference only

 

A report by the BBC's Thai team suggested that Thailand's tourism would not recover without the return of Chinese tourists. 

 

With the Chinese government still banning most foreign travel very few visitors to Thailand have come from the Asian giant.

 

The BBC were commenting on a report from the HSBC bank and their analyst in Hong Kong, Yun Lew. 

 

In a report entitled "Thailand Tourism: Bangkok Beckons" published Thursday the analyst called Thailand's reopening plans "ambitious".

 

But the November reopening to 63 nations without quarantine, despite being a good first step,  had led to no substantial change in the tourism landscape in Thailand. 

 

The bank noted that pre-pandemic Thailand's 40 million a year foreign tourist figure was made up of perhaps 30% Chinese nationals. 

 

They assessed that foreign tourism provided a huge chunk of GDP and the Chinese contribution was equally substantial.

 

They felt that Thailand's short term tourism recovery would not succeed as there were no Chinese coming. 

 

Only when the Chinese were permitted to travel again might the Thai tourism sector see realistic growth.