Thailand travel grows 30%
International tourist arrivals to Thailand posted an improvement of 30.93%, January to July, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports’ data.
Released late last week, the ministry’s data showed the country attracted 17,504,204 international visits during the first seven months of the year up from 13,368,979 visits during the same period last year.
Tourism and Sports Minister, Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, said Thailand tourism industry is still on track to reach 28.8 million visits and THB2.2 trillion in revenue by year end, although tourism was shaken by the explosion at the Erawan Shrine on 17 August.
But officials are confident that the impact has been less than originally anticipated.
Last year, the Kingdom attracted 24.80 million visits down 6.54% from 26.54 visits in 2013. Tourism revenue generated THB1.17 trillion, last year, a decline of 2.85% from THB1.20 trillion in 2013. The May 2014 military coup was blamed for the poor performance.
Up until the 17 August bomb attack, the 2015 tourism performance was a different story, growing at an unprecedented rate when compared with 2014.
The minister said that despite the bomb attack that killed 20 people, tourism would make a fast comeback that would probably see the country reach its 28.8 million target year-end.
The minister cited: “We will tighten safety and security to protect people and have been discussing measures including tourist insurance.”
Thailand, unlike neighbouring Malaysia, does not scan fingerprints of visitors at immigration checkpoints. The scan allows Malaysia to check identities against an Interpol database and other terrorist-related records.
In July alone, foreign tourist visits reached 2,642,761, an increase of 39.38% when compared to 1,896,098 visits during the same month last year.
By regions, all markets recorded increases in the seventh month of the year.
The Middle East recorded the highest growth of 75.15% from 46,061 to 80,678 visits. The United Arab Emirates led the field with 19,951 visits increasing 97.44% from 10,105 visits.
Other main markets in the Middle East: Israel (13,648; +14.19%); Kuwait (9,698; +88.13%); Saudi Arabia (3,460; +245.65%); and Egypt (2,422; +65.89%).
East Asia (ASEAN included) reported an increase of 53.90% from 1,192,503 to 1,835,232 visits.
The markets that showed improvements were: China (+115.37%); Taiwan (+95.48%); Vietnam (+82.43%); Hong Kong (+65.39%); Brunei (+40.46%); South Korea (+36.23%); Malaysia (+30.12%); Indonesia (+28.17%); Japan (+16.58%); Singapore (+15.49%); Myanmar (+11.19%); and the Philippines (+5.32%).
Cambodia and Laos were the only markets that showed a decline of 19.12% and 4.10% respectively.
South Asia represented a 31.70% increase from 91,713 to 120,786 visits. India led the field supplying 90,034 visits growing 25.69% from 71,630 followed by Bangladesh (11,473; +63.22%), Pakistan (7,178; +62.58%), Sri Lanka (5,833; +41.13%), and Nepal (3,195; +77.80%).
The Americas posted a 21.13% increase from 79,103 to 95,821 visits. Argentina reported a 47.24% increase from 779 to 1,147.
The United States recorded the highest arrivals at 70,255 up 21.95% from 57,611 followed by Canada (15,991; +15.74%) and Brazil (2,869; +13.22%).
Europe showed an increase of 5.39% from 388,120 to 409,042 visits. Russia and Norway were the only two markets representing a slowdown of 35.74% and 5.44% respectively.
The markets that showed improvements were: Spain (+62.01%); Ireland (+21.21%); the Netherlands (+20.63%); Italy (+20.37%); Austria (+19.14%); Switzerland (+17.25%); Belgium (+16.49%); France (+13.40%); Germany (+10.61%); UK (+7.60%); East Europe (+7.59%); Denmark (+3.69%); Finland (+3.29%); and Sweden (+2.59%).
Africa recorded a growth of 4.83% from 12,426 to 13,026 visits. The main market South Africa decreased 1.40% from 6,271 to 6,183.
The Oceania gained an increase of 2.33% from 86,172 to 88,176 visits. The main market New Zealand improved 6.91% (12,605) and Australia increased 1.55% (75,368).
Top 10 source markets July 2015 
Top 10 source markets January to July 2015 
