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The Thai hotel industry is expected to continue expanding over 2026-2028, supported by a gradual recovery in international tourist arrivals,

The hotel business will enjoy a steadily improving outlook over the next three years. However, recovery will remain only sluggish through 2022 given the limited number of tourist arrivals, and in particular the continuing depressed state of the Chinese market, where the government is still strictly implementing Zero-COVID policy. In addition, the global economy is facing significant headwinds as a result of the outbreak of Russia-Ukraine war, and this too is weighing on the industry. Nevertheless, the number of foreign arrivals should build at an accelerating rate through 2023 and 2024, and by 2025, the industry is expected to return to its pre-COVID level of 38-40 million arrivals annually.

The hotel industry will continue to see improving conditions over 2024 to 2026, helped by ongoing government support for the industry and the annual foreign arrivals returning close to their pre-pandemic level of 38-40 million by 2025. Meanwhile, domestic tourists are also expected to be making 200 million trips annually by 2025

Following weak operations in 2020, hoteliers will continue to see depressed conditions through 2021. The first shoots of recovery will start to break through from the end of this year and throughout 2022 and 2023, but it could take at least 4 years for foreign tourist arrivals to return to pre-COVID level. Against this backdrop, domestic tourism will recover faster, partly thanks to ongoing policy efforts by the government to stimulate demand. By the latter half of 2021, the worldwide rollout of vaccination programs will start to translate into an uptick in foreign tourist arrivals, helped by a recovering global economy and long-term growth potential in the Thai tourism industry. However, in the post-pandemic environment, players in the tourism and hotel industries will need to move rapidly to overhaul their operations onto a more sustainable footing by accelerating the adoption of modern technology, placing greater emphasis on public health and hygiene, and developing their understanding of varied and diverse consumer needs and using this knowledge to offer customized travel experiences.

The housing markets in the 6 major provinces will continue to strengthen over 2023-2025, helped by: (i) the gradual recovery of the Thai economy; (ii) progress on the public infrastructure investment, which will then encourage an uptick in economic activity; (iii) recovery in the tourism sector, with foreign arrivals now expected to return to their pre-Covid-19 level by 2025; and (iv) government efforts to stimulate property sales by cutting fees for registering mortgages and transferring ownership

Output Thailand’s chicken products is forecast to expand by an average 2.5-3.5% annually over 2023 to 2025. Within Thailand, the full reopening of the country is underpinning an accelerating rebound in tourist arrivals. This, coupled with broader recovery in the economy, will support stronger demand for chicken from restaurants and food processors. Exporters of chicken products can also look forward to an improving business environment

Business conditions should improve slightly in the retail rentals sector through 2022, though growth will be limited by the impact on consumer purchasing power of surging inflation and the rising cost of living. In addition, although the reopening of the country to foreign arrivals is helping the tourism sector to recover, at present this remains insufficient to have a major impact on retailers in areas that are dependent on tourist spending especially those in the downtown and tourist areas. Nevertheless, the situation will improve over 2023 and 2024 as economic recovery and a continuing rebound in tourism feeds into stronger private consumption, and progress on the build out of infrastructure helps to spur greater investment in new retail space.

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