The tourist industry in Thailand is predicted to enjoy a faster-than-expected recovery of foreign visitors, prompting analysts to name CENTEL and ERW as top pick stocks.
Daol Securities (Thailand) maintains an “Overweight” rating on Thailand’s tourism sector for three key reasons: 1) Most countries, especially in Asia, which accounts for about 69% of total tourist arrivals in Thailand in 2019, have lifted Covid-19 restrictions, and that will boost international travelers to Thailand; 2) Thailand is expected to open its border fully once Covid-19 declares as endemic, which could happen as soon as early October; and 3) China is likely to reopen the country in 4Q22.
Daol’s optimistic stance on the tourism industry has led to an increase in the projected number of international visitors from 6 million in 2022 to 10 million, and from 18 million to 22 million in 2023. This would bring the total number of tourists to 40 million in 2024, the same as it was before the epidemic.
The analyst’s top recommendations for the tourist industry are CENTEL (TP: THB50.00) and ERW as both companies are poised to benefit from a quicker-than-anticipated rebound in hotel business and also because Thailand is about to enter its high season for tourism.
