Thailand's March foreign tourist arrivals tumble 76.4% y-o-y amid virus crisis

[BANGKOK] Foreign tourist arrivals in Thailand slumped 76.4 per cent in March from a year earlier after a 42.8 per cent drop in the previous month, hit by the coronavirus outbreak, tourism ministry data showed on Thursday.

A total of 0.82 million tourists in March spent about 39.5 billion baht (S$1.74 billion), down 77.6 per cent from a year earlier.

Visitors from China, Thailand's biggest source of tourists, plunged 94.2 per cent from a year earlier.

Tourism is a key driver of Thai growth, with foreign tourist receipts accounting for 11 per cent of gross domestic product last year.

REUTERS