Thapanee Kiatphaibool, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor talked about the current market situation of Japan and its promotional plans at ‘Thai Festival Tokyo 2026,’ one of the biggest TAT events for consumers outside of Thailand.
Kiatphaibool revealed that the inbound travel market of Thailand has been affected by the recent geopolitical risk in the Middle East. International visitors to Thailand for the first four months of 2026 reduced to about 12 million compared to a year earlier, and Japanese visitors were down 2.6% to 365,360.
Considering the global uncertainty today, TAT has forecasted that international visitors in 2026 will slightly reduce to around 32 million, and has revised the Japanese visitors’ forecast downward to around 1 million from initially 1.2 million.
On the other hand, TAT has expected that international spending will be the same amount as 2025 because tourism promotions to luxury travelers have been working well. Kiatphaibool said, “Thailand is offering values beyond prices,’ citing golf, high-end gastronomy, wellness as high-priced tourism contents.
In addition, TAT is enhancing to send international visitors to local areas, developing local tourism contents rooted in the 55 areas. After 2027, TAT plans to select recommended areas in accordance with each market’s travel trend, and for Japan, TAT will appeal the waterfront areas in Ayutthaya.
「タイフェスティバル東京2026」のオープニングセレモニーで挨拶するキアットパイブーン氏
Global Wellness Summit in Phuket in November 2026
Thai Government and TAT succeeded in inviting the 20th Global Wellness Summit (GWS) to Phuket in November 2026. According to Kiatphaibool, The summit, joined by more than 600 experts, is expected to bring about an economic impact of 10 billion Baht overall. She said, “TAT is leveraging Phuket not only as a beach resort but also as a center of wellness and sustainability.”
According to the latest report released by Global Wellness Institute (GWI), an organizer of GWS, Thailand was ranked 7th globally in 2024 in terms of the market growth rate.TAT is appealing healing and anti-aging as part of wellness tourism.
The 26th Thai Festival Tokyo exhibited pop cultures, spiritual experiences, muay thai, Thai foods and so forth. Welcoming 300,000 visitors every year, the event is one of the biggest Thai festivals TAT organizes in the world.
オープニングセレモニーには、多くのファンが訪れた
タイ国政府観光庁の出展ブース。おみくじ、ムエタイなどローカル文化を紹介
