Thailand nears 2024 tourism target with almost 30m arrivals
Tourist inflow accelerating towards goal of 35 million as high season gets underway in Land of Smiles
Thailand saw over 29 million foreign arrivals during the first 10 months of 2024, generating nearly 1.4 trillion baht in tourism revenue, the government announced on Wednesday.
Authorities have set a target of 35 million tourists in 2024, though anticipated tourism revenue of 2.78 trillion baht is projected to fall short of the government’s 3 trillion baht goal.
Tourism and Sports Minister Sorawong Thienthong said 29,816,537 tourists arrived in Thailand from January 1 to November 10, spending 1.393 trillion baht during their stay.
The top five nationalities visiting the country in the first 10 months of this year were:
- Chinese: 5,860,148
- Malaysian: 4,276,862
- Indian: 1,777,137
- South Korean: 1,574,279
- Russian: 1,356,888
Arrivals over the past week rose 4.87% over the previous week to 736,136 as the high season approaches.
The top five nationalities arriving over the past week were: Chinese (103,150), Malaysian (89,463), Indian (51,478), Russian (47,493) and South Korean (34,763).
Sorawong said the past week saw a 16.85% surge in long-haul tourists but a drop in short-haul tourists.
