With 8 million Chinese tourist arrivals projected for 2024, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is diversifying its target to niche markets who still have plenty of purchasing power, including young travellers, small meeting groups, and caravan tours.
"Demand among Chinese is not enough to entice Chinese airlines to increase flights to Thailand," said Nonglux Yooyendee, director of the TAT's Shanghai office.
Ms Nonglux said China is facing a high rate of unemployment and a real estate slump affecting the massive middle-class market, which accounts for over a third of the country's population and has led to less travel demand.
Since last year, many Chinese tourists have pivoted to domestic destinations as well as nearby Hong Kong and Macau.
According to the China Tourism Academy, only 87 million Chinese travelled abroad last year, compared to 155 million in 2019. Only 130 million Chinese are expected to travel overseas this year.
Ms Nonglux said that since the pandemic, more Chinese tourists are travelling independently, with a greater number of young people venturing out of the country, based on a study of social media star ratings and reviews.
The number of tour groups has shrunk, as tourists have tended to prefer tailor-made tour packages offering unique experiences.
In June, the TAT hosted a special trip inviting a new potential market -- Chinese travellers with pets. It received positive feedback as Thailand has a lot of pet-friendly accommodation for this specific segment.
Over 4 million Chinese tourists from the city of Shanghai and the eastern provinces nearby visited Thailand in 2019. The country's flight capacity has now recovered by 80%, totalling 60,000 seats per week.
Boonrapee Damrongrat, director of the TAT's Guangzhou office, said there was huge demand for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions in Thailand among prospective travellers from Guangzhou and the southern provinces.
A majority of corporates also plan to allocate the same amount of budget or increase it for overseas business trips this year.
Mr Boonrapee said flight capacity across five provinces was at 85% of 2019's level, with only Jiangxi province still lagging far behind the others with a recovery rate of only 20%.
Amid the sluggish economy, he said corporate travellers were also exercising greater caution regarding their spending and tended to choose valuable high quality tailor-made packages, but that, unfortunately, destination management companies in Thailand are still not able to offer attractive packages to them.
Ruedee Cheawsamoot, director of the TAT's Kunming office, said travellers from Kunming and nearby provinces have the potential for cross-border travel to Thailand via Laos.
Mrs Ruedee said this region has the same proportion of individual and group travellers, unlike other big cities, which have been dominated by independent tourists.
As Thailand has started direct trains between Bangkok and Vientiane, this would be an opportunity to connect to the Laos-China railway and attract Chinese tourists.
Chinese travel agents are already planning to launch tour packages, as Laos also offers visa-free visits for Chinese travelling via tour groups.
Likewise, some tourists have also opted for caravan road trips, mostly business owners who have flexible time and family groups. They typically stay in Thailand for 7-20 days.
Despite a visa-free scheme, Chinese tourists are still facing inconvenient immigration processes for foreign vehicles, and complicated applications for temporary driving licences in Thailand.
