BANGKOK, 6 May 2015 – The Prime Minister’s Office has shown the government’s success in bringing more money into circulation in the country through special holidays, citing the Ministry of Tourism and Sports’ report on a noticeable jump in tourist numbers and revenue in April.
PM Office Spokesperson Capt. Dr. Yongyuth Mayalarp announced that the number of holidaymakers during April rose 18 percent to 2.2 million compared with the same period last year. Tourism revenue was also up by nearly 22 percent to 104 billion baht. Chinese and Malaysian people made up the largest percentage of foreign tourists.
With a view to boosting people’s spending, the government approved special long holidays in April for the Chakri Dynasty Day and the Songkran festival. Critics expressed concern that extended holidays may encourage Thai people to go abroad instead of spending their holidays within the country.
As for the May 1-5 Labor and Coronation Day holiday, Capt. Dr. Yongyuth disclosed that the number of Thai holidaymakers taking overseas trips during May 1-4 jumped by three percent to 94,000 year-on-year. This group of people was found to have spent 2.3 billion baht on their holiday activities. Meanwhile, numbers of foreign tourists increased by 12 percent to 308,000, generating revenue of 14 billion baht.
At the same time, hotel bookings in popular tourist destinations went up by seven percent. Bookings in cities highly publicized by the Tourism Authority of Thailand were also popular, surging 11 percent.
