13/09/2026
🇹🇭 THAILAND'S TOURISM IS CHANGING.
BUT WHAT DOES “QUALITY TOURISM” ACTUALLY MEAN?
Thailand welcomed 32.97 million international visitors in 2025.
That sounds enormous.
But it's actually 7.23% fewer than 2024, when Thailand welcomed 35.55 million.
And that raises an interesting question:
Is Thailand's tourism industry in trouble?
Or is it simply changing?
Because when you look underneath the headline number, the picture becomes much more complicated.
🇨🇳 China — 4.47m
↓ 33.6%
🇲🇾 Malaysia — 4.52m
↓ 8.7%
🇮🇳 India — 2.49m
↑ 16.8%
🇷🇺 Russia — 1.90m
↑ 8.8%
🇰🇷 South Korea — 1.56m
↓ 16.8%
Those five markets alone account for a huge chunk of Thailand's international tourism.
But look at some of the markets that are particularly relevant to the long-haul traveller:
🇬🇧 UNITED KINGDOM — 1.08m
🇺🇸 UNITED STATES — 1.08m
🇦🇺 AUSTRALIA — around 0.8m+
🇮🇱 ISRAEL — around 0.3m
The UK and US both passed one million visitors in 2025.
And here's where the debate around “quality tourism” gets interesting.
Thailand itself is now openly talking about moving from:
“MORE TOURISTS”
to
“MORE VALUE.”
The focus is increasingly on higher-value travellers, wellness tourism, niche markets, longer stays and experiences rather than simply chasing ever-increasing visitor numbers.
But what exactly is a QUALITY TOURIST?
Is it someone who spends more?
Someone who stays longer?
Someone who travels outside Phuket, Pattaya and Bangkok?
Someone who supports local businesses?
Someone who respects local culture?
Or is it simply someone who behaves well?
Because visitor numbers don't tell us any of that.
And this is where the discussion around Israeli tourists becomes particularly interesting.
Israel was a relatively small market compared with China, Malaysia, India, the UK or America — but it grew strongly after COVID.
Thailand recorded around 282,000 Israeli visitors in 2024, up from around 217,000 in 2023.
Early 2025 figures showed Israeli arrivals growing extremely quickly.
That makes Israel an interesting case study in the difference between:
“MORE TOURISTS”
and
“THE RIGHT TOURISTS.”
Because if Thailand is serious about quality tourism, surely the conversation cannot just be about HOW MUCH MONEY a visitor spends.
It has to include:
BEHAVIOUR.
RESPECT.
IMPACT ON LOCAL COMMUNITIES.
WHERE VISITORS TRAVEL.
HOW LONG THEY STAY.
And whether local people actually want the tourism that is being created.
And that brings us back to the bigger picture.
Thailand's tourism numbers aren't simply going up or down.
They're MOVING BETWEEN MARKETS.
China fell dramatically.
India is growing.
Russia is growing.
The UK and US have crossed the million-visitor mark.
South Korea is falling.
Malaysia is falling.
And Thailand is actively trying to attract higher-value tourism rather than simply more people through the airport.
So perhaps the real question for Thailand isn't:
“HOW MANY TOURISTS DO WE WANT?”
It's:
“WHAT KIND OF TOURISM DO WE ACTUALLY WANT?”
And perhaps that's a conversation worth having.
What do YOU think makes a “quality tourist”?
💰 Money spent?
🏨 Length of stay?
🇹🇭 Respect for Thailand?
🤝 Behaviour?
🌱 Impact on local communities?
Or something else?
I'd genuinely like to hear what people think.
👇
