Thailand Tourism Continues On Its Explosive Growth Path
Tourism powerhouse Thailand is again proving that it is one of the most popular holiday destinations in the world. As of November 2018, the kingdom has reported international visitors of over 34 million that generated tourism income of 1.8 billion Baht or roughly 55.5 million in U.S. dollars.
According to the latest data furnished by Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports, tourism inflow in the country grew by 7.5 percent from January to November 2018, resulting to a jump of nearly 10 percent in tourism revenue for the entire accounted period. The same report indicated that the bulk of the holidaymakers that chose Thailand for their vacation came from 10 countries in Asia, Europe and North America.
Flooding In By The Millions
Leading the pack of millions of visitors that toured Thailand this year is China, which by end of November 2018 had delivered 9.6 million tourists to the kingdom. Coming in distant second is Malaysia, whose nationals that went around Thailand’s numerous tourism spots amounted to 3.5 million in the same period.
The government report likewise listed five more countries – namely Korea, Laos, Japan, India and Russia – where at least one million tourists have originated and spent their holiday breaks in Thailand.
Rounding up the Top 10 of Thailand’s tourism source markets are the United States, Vietnam and Singapore. Guests that came from each nation totalled to more than 900,000 in the given period but per the same report from Thai tourism authorities, the figures will breach the one million mark at the end of 2018.
Noteworthy of the released figures is the fact that Thailand has become a compelling attraction for Indian tourists. To date, more than 1.4 million visitors from India came to the country and the numbers indicated growth arrival of 12 percent, which local tourism officials expect to further grow in the next few years.
However, there is one component of the report that likely will worry tourism authorities. Arrivals from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) slipped by seven percent, and according to C9 Hotelworks the numbers indicate of a concerning trend.
“Highlighting this trend has been the slowdown in medical tourism over the past 18-24 months with the growth of Dubai Healthcare City and change in insurance coverage for Thai treatments for the Emiratis,” the related report from C9 offered.
Overwhelming Performance
Yet overall, the Thai government is extremely pleased with the unsurprising results. Officials said the data now points to the realisation of Thailand’s 2018 goal of drawing in 35 million international arrivals that is only expected to further increase in the coming years.
“[The performance] is a tribute to the cooperation and creativity of the entire Thai travel and tourism industry to ensure that it remains our primary sector for job creation, distribution of income nationwide, and contribution to cultural, heritage and environmental preservation,” a statement from the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said.
