Southeast Asia’s 2nd most visited country targets over $95B tourism revenue

The plan targets an 11% increase in international visitors, enhanced domestic tourism, and a focus on sustainable, high-quality growth despite global challenges.

TAT aims for 36.7 million international arrivals and about 210 million domestic trips in 2026. Meanwhile, the revenue target includes 2 trillion THB from international markets, with an expected 11% increase in international tourist arrivals, and 1 trillion THB from domestic tourism, projected to grow by 4%, said TAT Governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool.

In 2026, TAT plans to reignite quality tourism growth by addressing challenges such as geopolitical tensions, increasing global competition, and domestic factors like the strong baht, household debt, safety concerns, and natural disasters. The key to success lies in the “Amazing 5 Economy” framework, which includes life economy, sub-culture economy, night economy, circular economy, and platform economy.

In 2025, Thailand recorded total tourism revenue of approximately 2.7 trillion THB. International arrivals reached 32.97 million, down 7.23% year-on-year.

It saw declines in short-haul markets such as Malaysia and China. However, long-haul markets showed strong momentum, with visitors from Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa reaching a record 10.8 million.

Notably, arrivals from the U.K. and the U.S. each surpassed one million for the first time. Domestic tourism also expanded, with more than 202 million trips, up 2.7%.

With 32.9 million international arrivals in 2025, Thailand ranked as Southeast Asia’s second most visited country after Malaysia, which received over 38 million in 11 months, marking the second consecutive year the kingdom has relinquished its regional tourism crown.