Thailand Woos Rich European Tourists as Chinese Arrivals Slump

Thailand plans to step up a campaign to attract high-spending European tourists as the Chinese, the dominant group of holidaymakers to the Southeast Asian country before the Covid pandemic, shun it on safety concerns.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is working with major airlines to increase the frequency of flights to European cities and launch new routes to build on the increase in tourist arrivals seen in the first quarter, the state-run agency said in a statement on Friday. The strategy has seen arrivals jump more than 20% from the UK, France and Italy so far this year, while visitors from Germany, Spain and the Netherlands increased by 10% or more, it said.