Growth of eateries outpaces tourism

The Bank of Thailand has observed a glut of restaurants relative to the slower growth in foreign tourist arrivals, with the impact affecting mainly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

- SOMRUEDI BANCHONGDUANG

Between 2019 and 2024, the total number of restaurants grew at an average annual rate of 106%, significantly outpacing 12% annual growth in both domestic and foreign tourist arrivals, according to the central bank.

Last year, total retail sales excluding gold grew by 2.4% year-on-year, compared with an average annual growth rate of 2.7% from 1973 to 2019.

However, last year’s growth was primarily driven by large corporations, particularly hypermarket businesses.

“Sales growth among large corporations tallied 9.6% last year, whereas SME sales contracted 7.1%,” said Sakkapop Panyanukul, secretary of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), following its meeting on Wednesday.