China market shows recovery as Thailand logs nearly 6m foreign visitors in 2 months

Geopolitical tensions (geopolitics), in the case of a dispute between China and Japan, have affected Japan’s tourism sector. The number of Chinese tourists travelling to Japan in January 2026 totalled 385,000, plunging by more than 60% compared with the same month last year, when it reached 980,000, according to statistics reported by the Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO).

However, as many markets—such as South Korea, Taiwan, the United States, Thailand, Australia and Indonesia—have still grown well at around 10–20%, this helped support the overall picture. Total foreign tourist arrivals to Japan in the first month of 2026 accumulated to nearly 3.6 million, down about 5%.

Thapanee Kiatphaibool, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said Thailand’s tourism situation from January 1 to February 22, 2026 showed a large number of foreign tourists entering Thailand, with the cumulative total now close to 6 million. This was boosted by the New Year period and positive signals from the Chinese tourist market, the largest market (ranked number one) which has begun to recover well—especially in February, with Lunar New Year as the highlight. Chinese tourists entering Thailand were high, reaching 30,000 per day on some days.

After TAT set its strategy and prepared readiness, it launched the 2026 tourism promotion campaign “Zhong Tai Yi Jia Qin (China–Thailand: Close like family)”, as Chinese tourists are an important market from both China’s major cities and secondary cities.

In January, TAT worked with the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) to organise a familiarisation trip, with more than 300–400 representatives from leading tour companies and groups of KOLs participating.

In February, it organised Lunar New Year events in several areas, such as Hat Yai district in Songkhla, which attracted large numbers of ethnic Chinese tourists, especially from Malaysia. In March, TAT will participate in trade shows and organise a major roadshow in Shanghai.

Another strategy helping to increase foreign tourist numbers this year is the “Airlines Focus” strategy, under which TAT works with airlines from both short-haul and long-haul markets.

This requires negotiations for new routes at least six months in advance. The strategy is now beginning to bear fruit, and in the second half of this year new airlines are expected to open routes and add more flights into Thailand.

“For the direction of Thailand’s tourism sector this year, TAT has set a target to attract no fewer than 35 million foreign tourists, but there is a possibility of reaching 36.7 million.”

This comes under the “Value over Volume” approach, focusing on quality over quantity, because TAT wants to capture markets with relatively high spending and quality travellers, such as the “Lifeconomy” group that values wellbeing of both body and mind.

TAT is therefore using its main marketing communication campaign “Amazing Thailand : Healing is The New Luxury” alongside a new campaign “Feel All The Feelings”, which features “Lisa Lalisa Manobal”, a global artist, serving as “Amazing Thailand Ambassador”.

This helps promote Thai tourism and distribute tourists across destinations in both major and secondary cities in Thailand, helping people heal and positioning Thailand as a safe space for tourists worldwide. Soon, TAT is preparing a campaign with content creators to discover and promote more new “Hidden Gem” cities.

In addition, TAT will continue to enhance “Thai charm”, such as Muay Thai, spas and massage, attractions, local culture and traditions, and Thai food and local cuisine. It also plans to promote restaurants that have received various awards, such as Michelin recognition and Asia’s Best 50 Restaurants, which it supports, as well as The World’s Best 50 Restaurants awards, which TAT is interested in bringing to Thailand.

This will go hand in hand with promoting global-scale activities and events planned to be held in Thailand continuously, such as the music festival “Tomorrowland Thailand” and other events, to help Thailand stand out in tourism both in visitor numbers and revenue.

Thapanee added that positive factors affecting Thailand’s tourism sector include stronger attention from both the public and private sectors to tourism and services businesses. This has enabled TAT to cooperate with partners in many sectors, including improving the safety image and key fundamentals, to encourage more travel by Thai and foreign tourists.

However, challenges remain—especially the strong baht, which can influence foreign tourists’ decisions if competitor countries have weaker currencies. In addition, negative online images still exist, making it a key focus for TAT to urgently strengthen Thailand’s good tourism image in the real world to erase poor perceptions online. There are also uncontrollable disaster risks, as well as geopolitics, which can affect security and tourism.