Tourists are seen on Koh Phi Phi Island in Thailand. VNA/VNS Photo

BANGKOK — With the Paris Olympic Games estimated to attract fewer visitors than expected, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) forecasts the French market to strongly pick up after the event, with 42 billion THB (US$1.17 billion) in revenue earned from this market in 2024.

Soraya Homchuen, TAT director of the Paris office, said the French market is facing a slow period as the country held two rounds of elections on June 30 and July 7. The flow of tourists will continue to slow during the Paris Olympics from July 26 to August 11 as a number of locals have to work as organisers of the event.

However, the agency predicted it would not take long to revive the market after the Olympics, with weaker crowds for this year's event as locals are concerned about soaring expenditure and congested traffic in Paris.

Roughly 600 tour packages were sold as part of an "Olympic Getaway" campaign, which the agency launched with Carrefour in May and will continue selling until August to draw tourists after the games.

The agency will also partner with a large online agent to launch another flash sales promotional event during the Olympic Games.

In the first six months of this year, Thailand welcomed 380,013 French tourists, while the target for the whole year was set at 661,000 arrivals, generating 42.9 billion THB, which will be the same revenue as generated in 2019.

She said the number in the first half was higher than the half way mark of the entire annual target, while expenditure of this market is forecast at 65,008 THB per person, which is higher than the average of 55,000 THB.

Soraya said another tailwind that will help boost the post-Olympic market is lower airfares.

Excluding the period of the Olympic Games, airfares have continued in a downward trend since June, she said.

The remaining concern is seat capacity as direct flights between Thailand and France have recovered by only 70-75 per cent. — VNA/VNS