Thailand welcomes 20 million foreign tourists in first 7 months
Short-term school breaks in Asia and the long school holidays in Europe contribute to increase in tourist arrivals
Thailand welcomed 20,335,107 overseas visitors between January 1 and July 28, who collectively generated around 957.31 billion baht for Thai entrepreneurs, the Tourism and Sports Ministry announced on Tuesday.
China was the top source market for foreign tourists to Thailand, with 4,065,109 arrivals, followed by Malaysia (2,837,922), India (1,186,288), South Korea (1,073,792), and Russia (996,990).
Minister Sermsak Pongpanich said the past week (July 22-28) saw a total of 716,631 foreign arrivals entering Thailand or an average of 102,376 people per day. This number has increased by 1.04% from the previous week or by 7,367 people.
He said the past week coincided with a school holiday in short haul markets, including South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, resulting in arrivals in these groups increasing by 0.85% from the previous week.
Meanwhile, visitors from long haul markets increased by 1.57% as the week marked the start of summer holidays in Europe and the Middle East.
Sermsak predicted that foreign arrivals this week (July 29-August 4) will remain at roughly the same level, with contributing factors including the summer holidays in Europe, the government’s ease of travel measures, and the continued increasing of flights.
The government is aiming for 36.7 million foreign visitors in 2024, compared with a record of nearly 40 million in pre-pandemic 2019.
