Tourist visits soar in secondary cities of Northern Thailand: minister
As many as 45 million tourists are expected to visit provinces in Northern Thailand this year, Tourism and Sports Minister Sudawan Wangsupakitkosol said on Tuesday.
Last year, 39.48 million people visited Northern provinces – 34.87 million Thais and 4.61 million foreigners.
“The number of visitors [in Northern provinces] increased by 9.65% compared to pre-Covid-19 pandemic in 2019,” said the minister.
Sudawan believes this was all thanks to tourism trends in secondary cities and a collaboration between relevant agencies to stimulate domestic tourism.
“Four Northern provinces – Chiang Rai, Phayao, Nan and Phrae – witnessed a significant increase in visitors last year,” she said.
However, visitors to Chiang Mai dropped slightly as some tourists preferred to travel to destinations in other provinces, she added.
According to Sudawan, 6.14 million tourists visited Chiang Rai last year compared to 1.02 million in 2019, before the Covid epidemic. A total of 5.39 million Thais and 756,821 foreigners generated 46.77 billion baht in revenue compared to 7.95 billion baht in 2019.
Some 1.09 million tourists visited Phayao last year compared to 320,618 in 2019. A total of 966,706 Thais and 42,942 foreigners generated 2.29 billion baht in revenue compared to 1.40 billion baht in 2019.
Nan welcomed 1.57 million visitors last year, compared to 953,895 in 2019. A total of 1.55 million Thais and 15,997 foreigners generated 4.41 billion baht in revenue, compared to 411 million baht in 2019.
Some 1.27 million tourists visited Phrae last year compared to 865,464 in 2019. And 1.26 million Thais and 16,927 foreigners generated 2.96 billion baht in revenue, compared to 1.76 billion baht in 2019.
