Foreign arrivals cross 30 million, generating THB1.43 trillion

Thailand welcomed 30,564,481 foreign visitors between January 1 and November 17, generating some 1.43 trillion baht for Thai entrepreneurs, the Tourism and Sports Ministry announced on Tuesday.

China was the top source market for foreign tourists to Thailand, with 5,973,990 arrivals, followed by Malaysia (4,361,287), India (1,822,543), South Korea (1,608,369), and Russia (1,405,327).

Minister Sorawong Thienthong said the past week (November 11-17) saw a total of 747,944 foreign arrivals entering Thailand or an average of 106,850 people per day, an increase of 1.6% from the previous week or 11,808 people.

Thanks to the Loy Krathong Festival on November 15, the past week saw an increasing recovery in short-haul markets, including China, Japan and South Korea, resulting in arrivals in these groups increasing by 4.53% from the previous week.

Sorawong predicted that this week (November 18-24) will see an increase in foreign arrivals from the long-haul markets, especially Europe, as the high season of tourism approaches.

He said this trend would be supported by airlines’ increase in seat capacity of around 10% since July and will last until the end of the year, as well as the government’s easing of measures that include visa exemption for selected countries and land arrivals.

The government is aiming for 36.7 million foreign visitors in 2024, compared with a record of nearly 40 million in pre-pandemic 2019.