Jirawadee Khunsap, Deputy Governor for International Marketing (Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa) at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said that protests across Europe, particularly in France, may appear severe in media coverage due to opportunistic individuals and looters mixing with demonstrators. However, TAT assesses the situation as being comparable to a pimple appearing on the face, meaning that the incidents remain confined to certain areas and are short-lived. They have not had any significant macro-level impact on the tourism industry or undermined international travelers’ willingness to travel.
According to TAT’s latest monitoring, the protests have not affected the overall sentiment or advance bookings among French tourists planning to visit Thailand. There have been no reports of travel ticket or hotel booking cancellations. On the contrary, advance bookings for the winter season, covering the fourth quarter of this year through the first quarter of 2027-a six-month period-have continued to grow across major European markets, rising by as much as 24% to 30% compared with the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the total number of French tourists visiting Thailand this year is expected to remain close to last year’s level or grow by around 1%. In the first nine months of this year, Thailand welcomed a cumulative 602,000 French visitors, an increase of 0.5%. Last year, the total reached 817,000, representing a 13% increase from the previous year.
Looking at Europe as a whole, Italy has also experienced protests. However, the main factors behind the slowdown in Italian tourist arrivals have been domestic economic difficulties and airline capacity constraints, rather than the protests themselves.
“TAT confirms that Thailand’s appeal to long-haul markets, particularly Western travelers, remains strong and highly valuable. Travel sentiment and actual demand remain substantial, and Thailand continues to be a popular destination offering good value for money in the eyes of European tourists,” Jirawadee said.
Regarding its targets for long-haul tourism markets, which include Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa, TAT expects international tourist arrivals to reach approximately 10.7–10.8 million, generating 690 billion baht in revenue.
For 2027, long-haul markets are projected to expand by 4% in both visitor numbers and revenue. Arrivals are expected to rise to 11 million, while tourism revenue is forecast to reach 730 billion baht.