Tourism into Thailand is a standout amid stuttering growth, spurring some developers to target foreign property buyers.

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Tourism into Thailand is a standout amid stuttering growth, spurring some developers to target foreign property buyers.

Apichart said the company is looking to target potential buyers in mainland China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan. It opened its first international office in Singapore on Monday.

“They invest their spare cash so they get some returns and sometimes if they want to go on vacation, they can use it as a vacation home,” he said.

The property developer’s sales pitch comes against a backdrop of stuttering growth in Southeast Asia’s second largest economy since a 2014 military coup.

Last year, the Thai economylogged a growth rate of 3.2 percent, up from 2.9 percent in 2015 but below the junta’s target of 3.7 percent.

The tourism industry, however, has been a standout in the sluggish climate as the Land of Smiles welcomed a record 32.6 million tourists last year, up 9 percent from 2015, bringing in THB1.64 trillion baht ($45 billion) worth of business, a 13 percent rise from 2015, according to data released by the Tourism Ministry, Reuters reported in January. A third of the tourists came from China.

The stellar performance came despite the mourning period for Thailand’s late king, cases of the Zika virus and a crackdown on some low budget Chinese tours.

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