February tourist arrivals slump 42.8% y-o-y

Tourist arrivals in Thailand sank 42.78% in February from a year earlier after a 2.46% rise in the previous month, as a result of coronavirus outbreak, tourism ministry data showed on Monday.

A complete of 2.06 million tourists in February spent about 103.7 billion baht, down 43.9% from a year earlier.

Visitor numbers from China, Thailand's biggest source of tourists, tumbled 84.92% from a year earlier.

Tourism is an integral driver of Thai growth, with foreign tourist receipts making up 11% of gross domestic product (GDP) this past year. The tourism industry all together is estimated to take into account about 20% of GDP.