TAT confident of 10 million arrivals this year as tourism sector places hopes on high season
Thailand is set for a strong recovery in tourist arrivals during the “high season” in the last quarter of the year.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) remains optimistic of achieving its target of 10 million tourists this year while the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) predicted “at least 20 million” foreign visitors woupd enter the country next year.
TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said that his agency was still confident of the country receiving 10 million tourists this year. In the last quarter of the year, the TAT estimated that at least 1.5 million foreigners would enter Thailand per month, representing 50 per cent of the pre-Covid level in 2019, when Thailand welcomed an average of 3 million tourists per month.
“Despite the global economic recession, people across the world are travelling in great numbers after years of frustration due to the Covid-19 crisis,” Yuthasak said.
According to him, flight schedules for the winter of 2022-23 show 573,538 booked passenger seats per week for flights to Thailand, a 74.2 per cent increase from 329,288 seats in the summer 2022.
Of the booked passenger seats, 211,744 per week are passengers from Southeast Asia, representing a 60.9 per cent increase from summer 2022 flights, and 175,588 are from East Asia, a whopping 153.7 per cent growth.
Western Europe sees a 57.8 per cent increase, with 56,354 seats per week, and the Middle East a 30.1 per cent growth with 44,900 seats.
Meanwhile, ATTA president Sisdivachr Cheewarattanaporn said the association expected at least 20 million tourists to enter Thailand next year, double the TAT’s estimate of 10 million tourists this year.
He added, however, that most of the foreign tourists travel on land from Thailand’s neighbouring countries, particularly Malaysia. About 1 million Malaysian tourists came to Thailand in the first nine months of 2022.
Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, the president of the Thai Hotel Association (THA), pointed to many positive factors that could boost Thai tourism in the last quarter of the year. These include more direct flights to Thailand, the downgrading of Covid-19 to an endemic, and the lifting of the face mask rule.
She said that the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) Summit to be held in Bangkok in mid-November also would help boost Thailand’s tourism and economic recovery.
