Last updated: July 2026

Ask five different sources what percentage of small businesses use AI, and you’ll get five different answers, anywhere from single digits to nearly 90%. That’s not sloppy research. It’s five surveys measuring five different things, and almost nobody bothers to say so before quoting the number that sounds best.

So before we get to the data: every stat below is dated and sourced, and where two credible reports disagree, we’ve said so rather than pretending there’s one clean number. If you’re trying to figure out where your business actually stands relative to your peers, that distinction matters more than the headline percentage.

The Short Answer

• Somewhere between 17% and 20% of small businesses are using AI in actual production operations, per U.S. Census Bureau data from May 2026.
• Somewhere between 58% and 89%, depending on the survey, have used a generative AI tool like ChatGPT for at least one task.
• 91% of the businesses that do use AI report a revenue increase — but only 14% have fully integrated it into core operations.

Both of those things are true at once. That’s the story this page tells.

How Many Small Businesses Actually Use AI in 2026?

The gap between “AI adoption” headlines usually comes down to definition:

• The U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS) asks whether a business uses AI to produce its goods or services — a strict, production-level bar. By that measure, adoption sat in the high single digits as recently as 2023 and had climbed to roughly 17–20% by May 2026.
• The JPMorgan Chase Institute, using transaction-based data rather than self-reporting, found the small business AI adopter base expanded from 5.2% in 2023 to 17.7% by the end of 2025 — a figure that lines up closely with the Census numbers.
• Broader surveys that ask about any generative AI use — drafting an email with ChatGPT counts — report far higher numbers. Thryv’s April 2026 survey of 561 small business owners found AI adoption at 66%, up from 55% a year earlier.
• The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s 2026 Small Business Survey put generative AI use at 89%, up from 36% in 2023. An earlier 2025 wave of Chamber data had already shown a climb from 23% (2023) to 58% (2025) — consistent with the trajectory, if not the exact figure, reported a year later.

The practical takeaway: if you’re citing an adoption rate, cite the definition along with it. “58% of small businesses use AI” and “18% of small businesses use AI in production” can both be accurate descriptions of the same market.

What Are Small Businesses Actually Using AI For?

• 41% of small businesses use AI for marketing and content creation — the single most common use case (HubSpot State of Marketing, 2025).
• 29% use it for customer service, including chatbots and automated ticket routing (Salesforce Small Business Trends, 2025).
• 24% use it for data analysis and business intelligence, including sales forecasting and inventory optimization (Deloitte Small Business Survey, 2025).
• Among businesses already using AI, the 2026 NFIB survey found marketing content creation the top use case at 68% — a higher share than the HubSpot figure above, another reminder that survey population and phrasing move these numbers.
• 42% of small businesses use generative AI chatbots specifically, though state-level adoption ranges from 13% to 71% (U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 2025).

Among the AI tools small businesses adopt, category-specific usage breaks down as:

• 24% use AI accounting tools such as QuickBooks AI or Xero (Intuit, 2025).
• 19% use AI customer service tools such as Zendesk AI or Intercom Fin (Zendesk, 2026).
• 14% use AI design tools such as Canva Magic or Midjourney (Canva, 2025).
• 11% use AI coding or development tools such as GitHub Copilot (GitHub, 2025).

Is AI Actually Paying Off for Small Businesses?

• 91% of small businesses using AI report a measurable revenue increase (Salesforce, 2025).
• 90% say AI has made their operations more efficient (Salesforce, 2025).
• Small businesses using AI are 2.3x more likely to report revenue growth than those that don’t (U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 2026).
• 70% of Thryv survey respondents said AI contributed to increased revenue over the past 12 months.
• 92% of AI users in the same survey said the technology saves them time, with 79% expecting to reclaim between 11 and 60 hours per month.
• 61% estimate AI will save their business between $500 and $2,000 per month (Thryv, April 2026).
• The average small business saves 5.6 hours per week using AI tools; owners and managers specifically save more than 7 hours per week (Business.com, 2026).
• In a Goldman Sachs survey of 1,256 small business owners conducted with Babson College and David Binder Research (January–February 2026), 93% reported a positive business impact from AI but only 14% said they’d fully integrated it into core operations.

That last gap — strong reported impact, low structural integration — shows up again and again in the barrier data below.

What’s Actually Holding Small Businesses Back?

• 77% of small businesses that haven’t adopted AI say they see no applicable use case for their business (SBA Office of Advocacy, 2025). Among businesses with fewer than five employees specifically, that figure rises to 82%.
• 45% of small business AI users cite a lack of technical expertise as a challenge, and 47% say it’s difficult to choose the right tools (Goldman Sachs, 2026).
• 70% of small business owners say they need more, or significantly more, training to use AI productively (Thryv, April 2026) — despite 86% describing themselves as comfortable to extremely comfortable using it.
• 77% of small businesses using AI have no formal prompting strategy or system in place (Aufsite Research, 2026).
• Only 23% of small businesses using AI have received any formal training on the tools they’re using.
• Roughly 77% of small businesses using AI have no written AI policy, leaving them exposed to data leaks and unchecked AI-generated output in client-facing work.

How Much Are Small Businesses Spending on AI?

• 53% of small businesses now spend at least $100 per month on AI tools (Thryv, April 2026).
• Median AI spending per firm actually peaked around $80 per month in 2022 and had fallen to roughly $30 per month by 2025 (JPMorgan Chase Institute) not because established users are spending less, but because the pool of new, lower-spending adopters using $20–$30/month entry-tier tools has grown so fast it pulls the average down.
• That entry-level tier now makes up roughly 63% of the small business AI user base, up sharply since 2022, while the highest-spending tier has shrunk to about 16%.
• The overall small business AI adopter base more than tripled between 2023 and 2025 (JPMorgan Chase Institute, 2026).

Which Businesses Are Leading — and Which Are Lagging?

• Adoption follows a U-shaped curve by firm size: the very smallest businesses, those with fewer than five employees, actually over-index on AI use compared to mid-sized small businesses (U.S. Census Bureau / SBA, 2025). For a solo operator, AI functions less like a tool and more like a first hire.
• By industry: 36% of small real estate businesses use AI (National Association of Realtors, 2025), 33% of small education and training businesses (National Center for Education Statistics, 2025), and 31% of small construction businesses — the lowest adoption rate of any major sector, largely due to field-based, low-digital-maturity work (Associated General Contractors, 2025).
• The gap between large-enterprise and small-business AI adoption has narrowed from roughly 1.8x to 1.2x over the course of 2025, with the smallest firms actually over-indexing on certain use cases like marketing automation (SBA Office of Advocacy, 2025).

Where Is This Headed?

• New businesses founded in 2025 reached 10% AI adoption within just six months — compared to 77 months for businesses founded in 2019. That’s roughly a 13-fold acceleration in how quickly new companies fold AI into operations (JPMorgan Chase Institute, 2026).
• The OECD projects a 19.34% compound annual growth rate for SME AI adoption through 2031.
• Gartner projects that 60% of commercial research queries will be AI-assisted by the end of 2026 — a shift that affects how small businesses need to think about discoverability, not just tool adoption.
• 96% of small business owners say they plan to adopt emerging technologies including AI (U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 2026).
• 71% plan to increase their AI investment over the next year (Salesforce, 2025), and 53% of small businesses not yet using AI say they’re considering it (Intuit QuickBooks, 2025).

The holdouts are shrinking. The gap that matters in 2026 isn’t between businesses that use AI and businesses that don’t, it’s between the ones treating it as a free-tier experiment and the ones actually building it into how they operate.

Sources

• U.S. Census Bureau, Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), May 2026
• JPMorgan Chase Institute, “Understanding the Use of AI Among Small Businesses,” 2026
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Small Business Survey, 2025 and 2026
• Thryv, AI and Small Business Adoption Survey, April 2026
• Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses / Babson College / David Binder Research, January–February 2026
• Salesforce, Small Business Trends Report, 2025
• Deloitte, Small Business Survey, 2025
• HubSpot, State of Marketing Report, 2026
• National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), 2026 survey
• SBA Office of Advocacy, “AI in Business: Small Firms Closing In,” September 2025
• Intuit / Intuit QuickBooks Small Business Insights, 2025
• Business.com, 2026 research
• Gartner, 2026
• OECD, “AI Adoption by Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises,” December 2025
• National Association of Realtors, 2025
• National Center for Education Statistics, 2025
• Associated General Contractors, 2025
• Aufsite Research, 2026

Methodology note: figures above are drawn directly from primary research reports rather than from other roundups, and each stat is dated to its source’s survey period. Where two reputable sources report different numbers for what appears to be the same question, both are presented rather than collapsed into a single figure.

SYDNEY — A man found shot dead inside a car in a driveway in Sydney’s north-west may have been killed hours before the discovery was reported to police, authorities said, as detectives work to establish a timeline and identify the shooter.

Emergency services were called to the scene on North Rocks Road in Carlingford shortly after 7 a.m. Tuesday, where they found a man believed to be in his 30s inside a vehicle. He had suffered significant gunshot wounds and died at the scene. He has not yet been formally identified.

North Rocks Road has since been closed, and police have urged the public to avoid the area while the investigation continues.

Possible Gunshots Heard Before Dawn

While the man was found shortly after 7 a.m., neighbours told reporters at the scene that they believed they heard possible gunshot noises around 5 a.m., raising the possibility that the shooting occurred as much as two hours before it was discovered. A member of the public came across the man in the car at about 7 a.m. and alerted police.

Acting Superintendent Michael Marinello, addressing reporters at the scene, said investigators had not yet pinned down the exact time of the shooting.

“We do not believe that this is a random attack. We believe that this is an isolated incident,” Marinello said.

Marinello said the victim was known to police, though investigators had not established any link between the shooting and organised crime at this stage of the inquiry.

“It’s not something we’re discounting, (but) not something we’ve confirmed at this time,” he said.

He added that, based on the information available so far, police did not believe the man had been targeted in a case of mistaken identity.

Unclear Whether Victim Lived at the Property

Marinello would not confirm whether the man had been living at the address outside of which he was shot, but said the occupants of the home were cooperating with police and assisting with the investigation. Detectives are treating the residence and surrounding area as a key part of the crime scene while they work to determine what took place overnight.

Investigators have not identified a getaway vehicle, if one was used by the shooter or shooters, Marinello said, leaving open questions about how the offender arrived at or fled the scene.

Scene Cordoned Off as Forensic Work Continues

Aerial footage broadcast from the scene showed a covered body laid out beside a car parked behind a low garden wall, with the vehicle positioned in the driveway of the property. Police cordoned off sections of the street, including several parked cars, using tape and emergency vehicles to secure the area for forensic examination. Officers also placed tape across the driveway of the home where the body was discovered, restricting access while crime scene investigators carried out their work.

Specialist officers from the Raptor Squad — the unit within the New South Wales Police Force tasked with targeting organised crime and gang-related violence — are understood to have attended the scene, though authorities have stopped short of confirming any organised crime connection to Tuesday’s shooting.

Witnesses Interviewed, CCTV Under Review

Detectives are speaking with a number of witnesses who were in the area at the time and have begun the process of reviewing what is expected to be extensive closed-circuit television footage from businesses and residences near North Rocks Road. Investigators are hoping the footage may help establish a more precise timeline for the shooting, identify any vehicles that entered or left the area overnight, and potentially capture the movements of a suspect.

Given the residential nature of the street and the early hour at which the shooting is believed to have taken place, police say CCTV and dashcam footage from passing vehicles could prove critical to the investigation. Anyone in the area in the hours before dawn on Tuesday is being asked to come forward, even if they are unsure whether what they saw or heard is relevant.

Broader Context

The shooting adds to a string of gun violence incidents that have periodically rattled Sydney suburbs in recent years, prompting ongoing scrutiny of firearms trafficking and organised crime networks operating across the city. While police have been careful not to draw conclusions about a motive so early in the investigation, the deployment of Raptor Squad detectives underscores the seriousness with which authorities are treating the case, even as Marinello stressed that no formal link to gang activity has been established.

Formal identification of the victim is expected to be confirmed in the coming days, pending notification of next of kin. Police have not released further details about the man’s background or his relationship, if any, to the property where he was found.

Investigation Ongoing

New South Wales Police say the investigation remains active and are appealing to the public for information. Anyone who witnessed the incident, has relevant CCTV or dashcam footage, or has any other information that could assist detectives is urged to contact Crime Stoppers online or by phone at 1800 333 000.

Authorities have not ruled out further public appeals as the investigation develops, and police say the case remains a high priority given the location of the shooting in a residential street and the fact the victim was targeted while sitting in a vehicle on the property. No arrests have been announced, and police have not released a description of a suspect or suspects.

The investigation is ongoing, and further updates are expected as detectives continue to piece together the circumstances surrounding the killing.

PHILADELPHIA — The American League’s pitching staff overwhelmed the National League lineup Tuesday night, shutting out the NL 4-0 in the 2026 MLB All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park and delivering the AL its 11th win in the last 13 seasons.

It marked the American League’s first shutout victory in the Midsummer Classic since 2013, a dominant showing from a pitching staff that entered the night with a far less impressive résumé at the team level. The American League had only five clubs with a winning record at the break, compared with nine in the National League, but none of that mattered once the first pitch was thrown.

AL Pitching Overpowers NL Stars

The National League lineup, missing Shohei Ohtani after he withdrew from the competition to manage a knee issue, still featured enough star power to suggest fireworks were possible. Instead, the AL pitching staff shut the door almost entirely, striking out 15 NL batters and allowing just two hits — both singles — until Otto Lopez added a third with a single off Tampa Bay reliever Bryan Baker, who had entered to replace Aroldis Chapman with two outs in the ninth. Sal Stewart grounded out to end the game and seal the NL’s offensive struggles.

The tone was set early, when Dylan Cease struck out three batters in the first inning. From there, each of the next nine AL pitchers who took the mound struck out at least one batter, with Michael Wacha, Joe Ryan and Cade Smith each recording multiple strikeouts. Juan Soto, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Lopez were the only National League players to reach base with a hit all night.

A Rough Night for the Home Crowd

The result capped a difficult stretch for Philadelphia fans, who had packed Citizens Bank Park a night earlier for the Home Run Derby. Kyle Schwarber had electrified the crowd with 11 home runs in the final round, appearing poised to claim the derby title in front of his home fans, only for the Cardinals’ Jordan Walker to silence the ballpark and steal the win amid a chorus of boos.

Tuesday’s All-Star Game offered no redemption. The Phillies led all clubs with six representatives on the All-Star roster and had ace Cristopher Sánchez on the mound to start the game, a start made possible after Milwaukee’s Jacob Misiorowski withdrew from the event. Sánchez became the first Phillies pitcher to start an All-Star Game since Roy Halladay in 2011, but the honor came with a rough outcome: the American League scored three runs in the first inning against him on three singles and two walks, setting the tone early.

Philadelphia’s other All-Stars fared little better at the plate. Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Brandon Marsh combined to go hitless on the night. Phillies reliever Jesús Luzardo did provide a bright spot for the home crowd, tossing a scoreless inning in relief.

Rays Star Avoids Disaster After Scary Hit-by-Pitch

Tampa Bay third baseman Junior Caminero entered All-Star week as one of the sport’s hottest hitters, having launched 13 home runs over his final 19 games before the break. He was considered a favorite in the Home Run Derby but was eliminated before advancing out of the second round on Monday.

The following night brought a far more serious scare. In the top of the third inning, Cardinals reliever Riley O’Brien fired a 97.6 mph sinker up and in that struck Caminero on the left hand. The Rays third baseman dropped immediately and remained on the ground for several moments before eventually standing and walking straight to the tunnel.

X-rays on Caminero’s hand came back negative, easing concerns about his availability going forward. Caminero told reporters afterward that he expects to be fine, welcome news for a Rays team currently holding off the New York Yankees atop the American League East standings as the second half begins.

Bellinger, Rice Power Yankees Offense in MVP Performance

The Yankees, playing without an injured Aaron Judge, have struggled to generate offense in recent weeks. Dating back to June 20, the team ranked 28th in the majors in runs scored and 29th in OPS heading into the break.

None of that carried over into their All-Star performance. Cody Bellinger delivered the game’s first breakthrough with a hard-hit grounder up the middle that plated two runs in the first inning off Sánchez. One batter later, Ben Rice followed with a nearly identical single to drive in another run, giving the AL its early cushion.

Bellinger entered the break red hot, going 7-for-16 with two doubles over his final four games of the first half, continuing a resurgent season that has made him one of the best offseason additions in baseball. His performance in the All-Star Game earned him MVP honors for the contest.

Rice, meanwhile, has quietly built one of the more productive seasons in the American League, ranking second in MLB in slugging percentage and third in OPS this year despite a modest .279 batting average. His RBI single in the first inning capped a triumphant first All-Star Game appearance and helped set the tone for a night the American League controlled from start to finish.

With the win, the American League extended its recent stranglehold on the Midsummer Classic, a rare bright spot for a league that, at least by record, entered the break trailing its National League counterparts across the sport.

Energy infrastructure specialist GenusPlus Group will deliver a 220kV upgrade to Rio Tinto‘s Millstream substation after being awarded a $55 million master construction contract.

The works will begin immediately and are expected to be completed in min-2028, and follow on from GenusPlus being awarded a similar master construction agreement in March of this year, for the construction of Rio Tinto‘s electrical instrumentation and controls.

The March contract, which will run for three years, covers Rio Tinto‘s iron ore Pilbara projects and includes construction, brownfield expansion, and end-of-life replacement across the company’s Pilbara operations.

Speaking after the award of the company’s latest contract, Genus Managing Director David Riches said the contract extended a long-running relationship between the two companies.

“We are delighted to secure the 220kV Millstream Substation contract and continue to build on our long and successful relationship with Rio Tinto,” he said.

“We look forward to completing the works safely and on time. This contract award is important as we convert our strong tender pipeline into order book heading into FY27.”

The contract also comes hot off the heels of the company’s $400 million move to buy out Brisbane-based MPC Kinetic, in a move which gave the company east coast gas exposure.

That deal will give Genus access to the onshore gas sector in Queensland, where MPK is a leading provider of gas gathering and well maintenance services, along with other pipeline and renewable projects.

Genus has agreed to pay $325 million up front, and a further $25 million six months after the deal is done, and earn-out consideration worth up to $50 million – subject to earnings targets.

Start with the good news, because there is plenty of it. Roughly two in five Chinese travel professionals expect demand for their business to grow over the next two to three years, and nearly half see luxury leisure travel as the standout growth segment. 

China’s outbound tourism market is roaring back. Official forecasts point to between 165 million and 175 million trips abroad by Chinese citizens in 2026, a volume that approaches or surpasses the pre-pandemic peak, while some industry estimates run even higher once domestic and short-haul day trips are included. Outbound spending is projected to climb well past the USD 180 billion mark this year, with analysts at Future Market Insights forecasting the market to more than double to USD 459 billion by 2036 on a 9.6 percent annual growth rate.

The scale of the rebound has been reinforced by policy. China’s visa-free entry scheme, now covering citizens from 45 countries and running through the end of 2026, has removed friction for both inbound and outbound travel, while Beijing is set to host its first China Outbound and Inbound Travel Market exhibition in October, bringing together tourism boards, airlines and tour operators from more than 50 countries.

Zoom out across the wider region, and more than one in four industry professionals name China as one of the single biggest growth opportunities, not just for outbound travelers heading abroad, but for inbound visitors arriving on Chinese soil. 

The readiness gap behind the growth story

A new industry survey from Expedia Group, covering 1,250 travel professionals in Australia, China, India, Japan and Thailand, gives that optimism real numbers to lean on. Roughly two in five Chinese travel professionals expect demand for their business to grow over the next two to three years, and nearly half point to luxury leisure travel as the standout growth segment. Across the wider region, more than one in four industry professionals name China as one of the biggest growth opportunities, not only for outbound travellers but for inbound visitors arriving on Chinese soil.

The same survey suggests the industry itself is not entirely ready for the demand it is forecasting. Chinese travel professionals identify three forces reshaping traveller expectations: a preference for in-language, localized experiences, a growing insistence on flexible change and cancellation terms, and a rising demand for sustainable travel options. Layered on top is a technology shift, with nearly six in ten respondents saying AI-powered tools and nontraditional booking platforms have grown significantly more important over the past two to three years.

What the report captures well, and what deserves more attention than it’s getting, is how much traveler expectations have shifted underneath the industry’s feet. Chinese travel professionals point to three forces reshaping demand: a hunger for in-language, localized experiences; a growing insistence on flexible change and cancellation terms; and a rising preference for sustainable travel options. None of these are niche concerns anymore. They are becoming baseline expectations, and businesses that treat them as optional extras rather than core product features are going to lose ground.

Respondents also point to their own limitations. A lack of localized content is cited as a major constraint, and many say it remains difficult to gain visibility across search engines and AI-driven platforms, the very channels increasingly used to research and book trips. A similar gap shows up around AI adoption itself: 79 percent of respondents say they already use AI tools, and 97 percent plan to, yet that near-universal adoption sits alongside an admission that many businesses have not unlocked the technology’s full potential. Aileen Chan, Expedia Group’s vice-president of sales for Asia-Pacific, framed the challenge for Chinese travel businesses as one of matching rising demand with the right localized content, flexible terms, payment options and technological support across every market they touch.

That readiness gap, more than the headline growth numbers, is the backdrop against which Thailand’s own struggle to capture its share of the Chinese travel boom should be read.

The paradox for Thailand

For a market this large, one might expect Thailand, long the default Southeast Asian destination for Chinese travellers, to be riding the wave. Instead, the country is a case study in how quickly a tourism relationship can fray even as the underlying demand pool expands.

The Association of Thai Travel Agents cut its 2026 forecast for Chinese arrivals from 9 million to 7 million in early June, citing a combination of safety concerns and rising travel costs linked to Middle East-driven oil prices. ATTA president Thanapol Cheewarattanaporn said safety perception had become the single biggest obstacle in the Chinese market, directly shaping travellers’ booking decisions.

The roots of that perception trace back to the kidnapping of a Chinese actor lured into a scam-centre operation in Myanmar via Thailand, an incident that triggered a sharp drop in Chinese bookings when it surfaced and has continued to shadow the market since. Reports of subsequent ransom cases and disappearances involving Chinese nationals have kept the story alive on Chinese social media, even though isolated incidents do not necessarily reflect the broader safety picture for ordinary tourists.

The numbers tell the story of a market that fell hard and has only partially recovered. Chinese arrivals to Thailand dropped from roughly 6.73 million in 2024 to about 4.47 million in 2025, a decline of some 34 percent that helped drag Thailand to its first annual fall in total visitor numbers in a decade outside the pandemic years. As of early July 2026, China had reclaimed its position as Thailand’s top source market on a cumulative basis, but at a scale far below the earlier peak, and Thailand has not recovered the roughly one-third of Chinese visitors it lost.

A crowded field of rivals

China’s outbound boom has not gone to waste, it has simply gone elsewhere. Japan overtook Thailand as the top Lunar New Year destination for Chinese travellers, helped by a weaker yen, expanded flight capacity and eased visa rules, with Chinese arrivals to Japan forecast to rise by a third to around 9.3 million. Vietnam has drawn on proximity, a favourable exchange rate and simplified visa policies to become, by some measures, ASEAN’s top destination for mainland Chinese tourists, with arrivals up more than 100 percent year on year at one point. Malaysia has been the most direct beneficiary within the region, overtaking Thailand as its largest single source market and now targeting 7 million Chinese visitors of its own in 2026 through visa-free entry, expanded routes into smaller Chinese cities, and marketing pushes on Douyin, Weibo and RedNote.

The competitive pressure is compounded by a shift in how Chinese travellers plan trips. Independent travellers, rather than tour groups, now make up roughly half of China’s outbound market, researching destinations on platforms such as Xiaohongshu rather than booking through traditional agencies. That shift rewards destinations with strong social-media visibility and flexible, experience-led products built around content tourism, gastronomy and wellness travel, and punishes those still associated with mass group tourism or negative headlines.

How Thailand’s industry is responding

Faced with a shrinking share of a growing market, Thai operators and regulators are trying several levers at once. The Civil Aviation Authority of Thailand is negotiating a one-year relaxation of slot usage rules with Chinese counterparts, which would let Thai airlines temporarily redeploy aircraft to other markets to offset weaker Chinese demand. ATTA has taken its promotional roadshows to Xinjiang and Gansu provinces, betting that cities such as Urumqi and Lanzhou carry less exposure to the negative coverage concentrated in southern China’s major urban centres.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand, meanwhile, has leaned into messaging rather than blanket safety assurances. TAT’s regional director for East Asia marketing has argued that Chinese travellers want honest reassurance rather than claims that Thailand is entirely risk-free, and the authority has planned a “Nihao Month” campaign alongside city-to-city promotional tie-ups timed around the anniversary of Thailand-China diplomatic relations. TAT has also revised its full-year target to a range of 30 to 34 million total foreign arrivals, with Chinese numbers expected to land close to 2024 levels rather than fully recovering to the pre-safety-crisis peak.

Underlying all of this is a product question as much as a marketing one. Thai tourism operators are being pushed to move beyond the traditional group-tour, shopping-and-photo-op model toward the categories Chinese travellers increasingly favour: content and set-jetting tourism tied to film and social media, gastronomy, medical and wellness travel, and deeper cultural immersion in cities like Chiang Mai rather than one-off check-in stops.

What would it take to close the gap

Aileen Chan, Expedia Group’s vice-president of sales for Asia-Pacific, put her finger on the actual challenge facing the industry: the opportunity for Chinese travel businesses isn’t simply to capture rising demand, but to meet travelers with the right localized content, flexible terms, payment options, and technological support across every market they touch. That is a far more demanding mandate than “grow the top line,” and it requires investment in content, platforms, and AI literacy that many operators, by their own admission, don’t yet have.

Thailand’s underlying advantages, established flight networks, hospitality infrastructure and decades of brand recognition in China, have not disappeared. What has changed is that Chinese travellers now have more credible alternatives and more information at their fingertips before they book. Closing the gap will likely depend less on any single marketing campaign than on whether Thailand can produce a sustained run of good news to offset the scam-centre and safety headlines that have dominated Chinese coverage since 2025, while Japan, Vietnam and Malaysia continue investing in the same travellers Thailand is trying to win back.

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