For an industry that went from hero to zero when the Covid-19 pandemic erupted, look no further than
Thailand’s tourism sector. In 2019, the “
land of smiles” welcomed 39.9 million foreign tourists, a record high. In 2020, the number of arrivals plunged to 6.7 million. The following year, it fell to just 400,000.
The pandemic
delivered a hammer blow to
Thailand’s economy. With tourism accounting for about a fifth of output and 20 per cent of employment before the pandemic,
Thailand’s tourism flows suffered what the International Monetary Fund called a “sudden stop”.
That didn’t abate for some time. Only at the beginning of last year did monthly arrivals exceed 2 million, still down from close to 3.5 million in early 2019….
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