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Bloomberg
Thailand suffered a rare combined drop in tourist arrivals and spending in March, signalling a rocky first quarter for Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy.
The number of visitors fell 0.7 percent from a year ago to 3.5 million, official figures and data compiled by Bloomberg show. Foreign tourism receipts slid 1.3 percent to $5.8 billion.
Tourism is critical for Thailand and on some measures accounts for a fifth of the economy, prompting the military government to take steps such as waiving visa fees to woo travellers.
The downbeat report follows data showing a worse-than-expected tumble in exports, another economic engine.
“If the tourism arrivals and receipts continue to slide, it could be an added risk to the economy because the sector is one of the main drivers,†said Duangrat Prajaksilpthai, an economist at TMB Bank Pcl in Bangkok.