Thailand expects to attract 30 million international visitors in 2023

In the first five months of 2023, Thailand's tourism industry achieved impressive results with total revenue of more than 27.6 billion USD. With the recovery of the Chinese market, the Tourism Authority of Thailand is expecting the number of international visitors to the country to reach 30 million this year.

International tourists visit Wat Phrathat, Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai province, Thailand.

According to figures recently released by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), the country's tourism revenue in the first five months of 2023 reached 959 billion baht (equivalent to 27.6 billion USD), of which revenue from international tourists accounted for two-thirds.

With this growth, Thailand's tourism revenue for the whole of 2023 will reach 2.38 trillion baht ($68.7 billion), equivalent to 80% of the 3 trillion baht revenue in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic broke out and paralyzed this important industry for nearly three years.

TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said that by early June 2023, Thai tourists had contributed 360 billion baht from nearly 100 million domestic trips, while international tourists brought 599 billion baht to the Thai tourism industry.

In May alone, 1.97 million international tourists entered Thailand. The largest proportion of visitors came from Malaysia, followed by China, India, South Korea and Laos. Hotel occupancy rates across Thailand in the first five months of the year reached 70%.

According to Ms. Thapanee Kiatphaiboon, Deputy Governor General of TAT in charge of domestic market, in the remaining seven months of this year, the Thai tourism industry will complete the target of attracting at least 25 million international tourists. However, she said that in the fourth quarter of 2023, the number of international visitors to Thailand may increase sharply.

Ms. Thapanee said that if the Chinese market recovers quickly before the October 1 holiday (China's National Day), the number of international visitors to Thailand could increase to 28-30 million this year. Before the pandemic, Chinese tourists were the largest group of international visitors, often accounting for up to 20% of the total number of international visitors to Thailand.

Ms Thapanee said TAT will launch a number of new tourism promotion campaigns in the second half of this year, focusing on cultural tourism, stargazing routes, and organizing tours for animal lovers. The agency will also continue to work with partners to launch the “Go Local, Love Local” campaign to promote eco-tourism and sustainability in secondary tourism provinces. The campaign will be piloted in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Ayutthaya, Ubon Ratchathani and Chanthaburi provinces. In each province, visitors will be able to enjoy unique art forms, culture and nature through local businesses, guides and travel agents.

“We hope this campaign will attract tourists to secondary tourism provinces and reduce crowding in major tourism provinces such as Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket,” said Ms Thapanee. Currently, only about one-tenth of international tourists visit secondary provinces and TAT wants to double this ratio by the end of the year.

In 2024, TAT aims to attract about 30 to 35 million international tourists to Thailand, generating revenue of 3 trillion baht, equivalent to the revenue level before the Covid-19 pandemic.

According toNhandan

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