DUBAI, 5 May 2015, – Deputy Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)’s Europe, Africa, Middle East and America Market Juthaporn Riengrona-asa has revealed that TAT officials and 59 travel agencies are attending Arabian Travel Market 2015 from May 4 – 7 in Dubai.
The move is expected to attract more tourists to Thailand during the Kingdom’s Green Season.
She indicated that last year the number of tourists from the Middle East stood at 593,000, a drop of 5.91 percent. Ms. Juthaporn attributed the decrease to a fall in fuel price since 2008, which diminished gross domestic product of Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria.
Nonetheless, she said that tourism in the region started to revive in the latter half of 2014, particularly in August, the period before Ramadan. Ms. Juthaporn expected the number of tourists from the Middle East would increase in the holiday season at the end of the year, saying that popular destinations include Dubai, Istanbul, EU nations, and Thailand.
Ms. Juthaporn said records showed an increase in the number of tourists interested in Medical Tourism in Thailand. She added that medical tourists from Qatar rose due to increased Qatar Airways flights from Bangkok to Doha.
