Thailand witnesses dip in Middle East tourists
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The month-long political uprising and subsequent coup d’etat in Thailand have caused a severe drop in tourism arrivals to the country, according to numbers released by the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
In fact, overall tourism numbers were down 10.22% from January to June 2014, making it clear that the country will miss its ambitious target of 28mn visits this year (compared to 26mn in 2013).The sharp drop can be attributed to fewer visitors from ASEAN countries as well as from China and Japan, but percentage-wise, the Middle East as a source region for tourists to Thailand recorded the biggest slump in arrivals.
Overall, visits from the Middle East declined in the six-months period by almost 47% from 65,427 to 34,911 visits. Among the most important source countries, visitor numbers from the UAE dropped by 58%, Kuwait by 54%, Egypt by 45% and Saudi Arabia even by 78%.
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