BANGKOK, 27 June 2012 – Local travel business operators are confident that the number of Chinese visitors to Thailand in 2012 will expand healthily.
President of the Thai-Chinese Tourism Alliance Association Vichit Prakobkosol said that, during January and June of this year, the number of Chinese travelers to Thailand grew 20 percent year-on-year to more than 1 million.
Mr. Vichit said that the rise signals a promising year for the Chinese market in the country.
The Thai-Chinese Tourism Alliance Association had initially forecast that there would be around 1.7 million Chinese arrivals in Thailand, generating around 60 billion baht in tourism revenue this year.
Mr. Vichit now believes that the actual tourist arrivals from China will exceed the initial target and end up at 2.2 million while the arrival number will grow to as high as 3 million by 2015.
The President of the Thai-Chinese Tourism Alliance Association stated that the higher number of Chinese visitors has been driven by the continued expansion of Chinese businesses, China’s healthy GDP and a change in the taste of Chinese consumers that is now more inclined to Thailand.
He went on to say that during the months of July and August, which will be the summer break for Chinese students, there will be around 50 charter flights to Bangkok and another 50 flights to Phuket, bringing in about 400,000 Chinese travelers, who will spend no less than 10 billion baht in the country.
Nevertheless, Mr. Vichit is calling on the government to help business operators by helping promote the Thai tourism industry in non-major cities.
