Thailand reports minor dip in UK arrivals as conflict squeezes airlift

UK arrivals to Thailand dipped slightly to 514,244 between January 1 and June 10, down 3.16% year on year as Middle East conflict hit flight capacity.

The marginal decline follows a record-breaking 2025, which saw UK visitor numbers surpass one million for the first time since the pandemic.

Speaking at trade show TTM+, Chiravadee Khunsub, the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) deputy governor for international marketing – Europe, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa, said: “These numbers show how robust the UK market is, as it shows there’s not a lack of demand but more a lack of supply as Middle Eastern airlines make up 30% of our airlift.”

The figures were announced alongside TAT’s new ‘Healing is the new luxury’ marketing campaign, which looks to promote responsible, sustainable and wellness-led tourism. It also aims to shift the focus to value over volume, encouraging longer, more meaningful stays in the country.

With its new marketing campaign in mind and UK repeat business being so strong, Khunsub encouraged agents to showcase more of Thailand away from its traditional honeypot sites like Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket.

She added: “Repeat business is at nearly 70%, so we know UK travellers are incredibly loyal. Therefore, we’re trying hard to promote secondary hubs, such as swapping Chiang Mai for Chiang Rai or Phuket for Krabi.”

Following the success of TV series The White Lotus and 2025 film Jurassic World Rebirth, Thailand has also seen increased interest from ‘set-jetting’ travellers, with Koh Samui (where The White Lotus was filmed) and Krabi (the Jurassic World filming location) seeing noticeable surges in demand.

UK interest in these destinations will only continue to grow as connectivity to Thailand from the UK will be greatly improved later this year, as Virgin Atlantic launches a thrice-weekly seasonal service from Heathrow to Phuket from October 18 to April 2027.

Norse Atlantic Airways will also operate a seasonal service (five flights a week) from Gatwick to Bangkok from October this year to April 2027, while Tui has increased its seasonal winter capacity to Phuket from Gatwick, going from two to three flights a week.

TAT has added an AI-powered tool to its training platform, Thailand Expert, to further support UK agents, while there are also plans for a series of virtual training webinars.

TTM+ was held from June 10-12 in Pattaya in the coastal Chon Buri province, welcoming more than 950 participants.

This included 429 buyers and 428 sellers representing key source markets such as Europe, ASEAN, East Asia, North America and Australia, plus emerging markets including eastern Europe, the Middle East, South America and South Africa.