Thailand tourism suffered its biggest drop in visitors

In Thailand the lucrative tourist sector, which accounts for about 10% of the economy, suffered its biggest drop in visitors in June – the first full month after the army took power on May 22 in a bid to end tensions and get economic activity going again.

The number of international tourists arriving in Thailand in July fell 10.9% from a year earlier, according to data from the Department of Tourism, showing the industry has not recovered from the impact of prolonged political tension.

International arrivals in July totaled 1.91 million, compared with 1.56 million in June, according to data updated on the department’s website on Friday. Arrivals from China, the country’s single biggest visitor source accounting for 19% of all arrivals, tumbled 25.3% from July 2013.

For the first seven months of the year, arrivals totaled 13.62 million, down 10.7% from 15.26 million a year earlier, an even deeper drop than the first-half decline of 9.9%.

By region, arrivals from East Asia were down 17.6% for the first seven months of 2014 from a year earlier. Arrivals are up 3.1% from Europe and 9.6% from Africa. Declines were seen from the Americas (3.5%), the Middle East (6.9%), South Asia (10%) and Oceania (1.6%).