FILE PHOTO: Tourists wearing protective masks receive hand gel before entering a shopping mall in Bangkok, Thailand, January 27, 2020. REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand expects the number of Chinese tourists to fall by 2 million to 9 million this year due to the coronavirus outbreak in China, the Tourism Authority of Thailand said on Tuesday.

Tourism has been hit hard by China’s ban on all group tours. Chinese tourists, Thailand’s biggest source of visitors, were numbered about 11 million last year.

The TAT will this week propose to the government measures to help the industry, TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn told a news conference.