The U.K. could be dethroned by the U.S. as Thailand’s top tourist source from outside Asia after the Brexit vote triggered a plunge in the pound. The U.K. sent 947,000 visitors to Thailand in 2015, the most among Western nations, topping Russia, whose citizens cut travel after the ruble’s collapse started in 2014. With the dollar outperforming the pound, ruble and so-called Aussie the past year, Bangkok, Phuket and Chiang Mai may see more Americans.

Bangkok, Phuket and Pattaya rank among the top 10 destinations for Chinese tourists this year in Asia Pacific, according to MasterCard Asia Pacific Destinations Index 2016.

According to the index, released earlier this week, China will continue to contribute the largest share of tourists to Asia Pacific in 2016.

It estimates that 50.4 million tourists from China will visit destinations across Asia Pacific this year, making up 15.7% of all international overnight arrivals in the region, it said.

This year, Chinese travellers are also expected to spend USD45.3 billion in Asia Pacific destinations, up 18.2%.

China was the sixth biggest contributor of tourists to Asia Pacific in 2009 (5.8% share of the total Asia Pacific international overnight arrivals). It has been the top supplier since 2012, when it had a 9.8% market share. It has retained that position since with a 15.7% share driven by 25.9% compounded average annual growth rate from 2009 to 2016.

MasterCard’s Global Products & Solutions, Asia Pacific executive vice president, Matthew Driver, said the mix of tourists in key Asia Pacific destination has changed significantly reflecting the economic rise of China and other emerging Asian economies.

“The impact of the economic transformation of China and specifically the rise in disposable incomes is the biggest driver of tourism growth globally.”

This growth is very positive for the Asia Pacific tourism industry and there remains a huge opportunity for industry players to tap into it and benefit from it, he added.

This year, Bangkok will be the top destination (Chinese tourist arrivals) with 8.2 million visits followed by Seoul (5.2 million) and Tokyo (2.7 million) in second and third place respectively.

Phuket and Pattaya are also listed fourth and fifth with 2.5 million and 2.1 million Chinese visits this year.

The other most popular Asia Pacific destinations for Chinese tourists are: Osaka (1.9 million); Singapore (1.8 million); Taipei (1.6 million); Jeju (1.5 million); and Bali (1.4 million).

Tourism Council of Thailand estimates international tourist arrivals to Thailand could reach 8.15 million during the third quarter, July to September, generating THB399,235 million in revenue.

Speaking at the council’s press conference, Tuesday, TCT president Ittirit Kinglek said Thailand was still value for money for travellers due to the increase in low-cost airline services that have cut travel costs substantially.

“China remains the major source market for the country’s tourism industry … arrivals should surpass 10 million visits compared to 7.93 million last year…in Q3, Chinese tourist arrivals are projected to reach 2.68 million visits an increase of 27.09%.”

Chinese visits in Q1 reached 2.63 million, while in Q2 they reached 2.46 million.

Across all supply markets, Q3 should generate 8.15 million international visits up 11.49% over the same period last year.

Of that, 3.97 million will come from East Asia (+25.92%), 2.09 million from ASEAN (+7.0%) and 1.11 million from Europe (+3.40%).

“Tourism will continue to be positive this year…by year-end we expect to welcome 33.87 million visits up 13.35% and generating THB1.71 trillion in tourism revenue, a 17.83% increase over last year,” the president projected.

Despite TCT’s optimism, the latest Thailand Tourism Confidence Index indicated a level of 95 in Q3 compared to the confidence benchmark of 100. The index is based on data from 600 tour agencies.

“The slowdown in the confidence index is due to tourism operators worrying about the country’s economy condition and the world economy. Q3 is also the low tourism season,” he said.

To develop the country’s tourism competitiveness, the president suggested the government should organise festivals at tourist attractions seasonally and promote secondary destinations including potential markets such as sports tourism, medical tourism and MICE (meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition).

Tourism operators, should develop stronger service standards particularly safety measures.

Last year, the kingdom attracted 29.88 million international visits, an increase of 20.44% from 24.80 million visits in 2014. Tourism earnings reached THB1.44 trillion, up 23.39% from THB1.17 trillion in 2014, according to Ministry of Tourism and Sports’ data.

Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports reports international tourist arrivals reached more than 14.15 million, an improvement of 12.92% during January to May this year.

Released late last week, the ministry’s data showed the country attracted 14,158,649 international visits during the first five months of this year compared to 12,538,307 visits during the same period last year.

Tourism and Sports Minister, Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, said to cope with the influx of tourists the country should strengthen safety and security measures to improve the travel environment for both domestic and international travellers.

“The country authorities have stepped up efforts to ensure the safety of visitors by reviewing all safety standards and regulations for all modes of transports,” she said.

In May alone, visits reached 2,476,505, an increase of 7.59% from 2,301,696 visits during the same month last year.

By regions, all markets recorded increases in May  except Oceania.

The Americas recorded the highest growth of 13.98% from 91,121 to 103,861 visits. Argentina reported a 68.28% increase from 1,797 to 3,024.

The United States recorded the highest arrivals at 72,037, up 12.72% from 63,906 followed by Canada (18,920; +9.40%) and Brazil (3,932; +30.76%).

South Asia represented an increase of 13.35% from 136,544 to 154,779 visits. India led supplying 128,573 visits up 16.66% from 110,211 followed by Bangladesh (7,319; -12.38%), Pakistan (6,938; +4.98%), Sri Lanka (5,480; -17.52%) and Nepal (2,996; +89.62%).

Europe grew 11.65% from 276,764 visits to 309,007 visits. The markets that showed improvements were: Russia (+34.98%); East Europe (+24.81%); Germany (+17.14%); Spain (+10.49%); Italy (+8.79%); Austria (+6.49%); Sweden (+5.92%); Norway (+5.24%); the United Kingdom (+4.21%); the Netherlands (+2.15%); Denmark (+1.72%); France (+1.11%); Belgium (+0.43%); Switzerland (+0.22%); and Ireland (+0.21%).

Finland was the only market that showed a decline of 1.45%.

East Asia (ASEAN included) posted a growth of 6.60% from 1,671,704 to 1,782,116 visits.

The markets that showed improvements were: Myanmar (+39.01%); Cambodia (+31.80%); Indonesia (+16.19%); Laos (+11.44%); China (+10.55%); South Korea (+7.45%); Vietnam (+4.09%); Philippines (+2.33%); and Malaysia (+0.51%).

The markets that showed declines were: Taiwan (-18.92%); Brunei (-16.77%); Japan (-2.69%); Singapore (-1.50%); and Hong Kong (-1.21%).

Africa showed an increase of 4.19% from 12,338 to 12,855 visits. The main market South Africa increased 4.55% from 5,299 to 5,540.

The Middle East recorded a growth of 1.78% from 47,467 to 48,310 visits. The United Arab Emirates posted the highest arrivals with 9,975 visits increasing 1.56% from 9,822 visits.

Other main markets in the Middle East: Israel (7,023; +20.50%); Kuwait (5,031; -24.13%); Egypt (2,122+9.66%); and Saudi Arabia (1,825; +14.35%).

In contrast, Oceania reported a drop of 0.28% from 65,758 to 65,577 visits. The main market Australia showed a decline of 0.30% (56,515),  while New Zealand slightly increased 0.20% (8,732).

Promotions for Thailand’s key tourism niche markets should intensify following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, 13 June, between Emirates Airline and the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Core elements of the MoU are joint promotions that focus on green tourism, sports, luxury travel, weddings and honeymoons, medical tourism and wellness.

Discussions between TAT and Emirates could also lead to the launch of new routes from Dubai to Chiang Mai in North Thailand and possibly U-Tapao on the eastern seaboard, 30 km beyond Pattaya.

It is understood the MoU outlines support features Emirates would receive if it pioneered a new route to Thailand.

Qatar Airlines is due to start its own service to Chiang Mai from Doha with a stop in Yangon Myanmar later this year. It will give the airline four destinations in Thailand, Bangkok, Phuket, Krabi and Chiang Mai.

Emirates is conducting research on potential new routes to maintain its competitive edge in the Thailand market and Chiang Mai is one the cities under consideration.

Emirates Airline senior vice president of commercial operations – Far East, Badr Abbas, and Tourism Authority of Thailand’s deputy governor for international marketing, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Americas, Juthaporn Rerngronasa, signed off on the joint promotions MoU.

Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Dubai and Middle East Office headed by director, Chalermsak Suranant, led negotiations leading up the accord.

In 2015, Emirates Airline carried more than 700,000 passengers to Thailand. Of that total, more than 580,000 passengers flew to Bangkok and 120,000 passengers to Phuket.

Emirates will add its seventh daily flight between Bangkok and Dubai, 1 July.

The airline has the widest cover of European cities that are just one stop away from Thailand on flights to the airline’s Dubai hub, where there is a change of plane to connect with services to Thailand. The usual ground time to connect is two hours.

Emirates also has some of the most competitive fares starting at around UKP500 roundtrip to Thailand from points in the UK.

It competes head on with two other Middle East airlines, Qatar Airways and Etihad and together they carry the bulk of leisure travellers heading to Thailand from Europe.

Emirates offers 42 flights weekly to Bangkok and 14 flights weekly to Phuket.

The airline operates a mix of Airbus A380s and Boeing 777s on routes to Thailand.

China’s largest low-cost carrier will launch a series of new routes to Thailand this summer.

Commencing on 1 July, Spring Airlines will launch four weekly flights to Bangkok from Ningbo, in eastern China’s Zhejiang province, and the same frequency of services between the Thai capital and Changzhou, Jiangsu province. The Changzhou flight will continue onwards to and from Dalian, a port city in northeast China’s Liaoning province.

Then from 3 July, Spring will launch three weekly flights from Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, to Phuket. This service will operate via Yangzhou, another city in Jiangsu province.

And finally on 7 July the LCC will launch weekly flights to Bangkok from Jinan, the capital of Shandong province.

All routes will be operated using Spring’s 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft.

Three applications to help tourists in Thailand with everything from finding restaurants to temples, accommodation to opening times of attractions and much more are now available.

Thailand One Click or T1C is available on iOS featuring information from throughout the country.

Thai Lower North gives hints on where to stay, places to visit and opening times and is available on iOS and Android.

In addition the more highbrow Museum Pool application gives information on museums and places of educational interest in the kingdom.

All three apps aim to bring greater knowledge of the culture, tradition and beliefs of the people of Thailand to a wider audience and make tourists’ stay more fulfilling, potentially varied and enjoyable.

Phuket’s first floating market officially opened in Kathu last week with over 1,000 visitors pouring in to inspect the new attraction last weekend (May 21-22).

Phuket Vice Governor Khajornkiet Rakpanichmanee presided over the opening ceremony of the Phuket Floating Market, located opposite Loch Palm Golf Club in Kathu on May 18, with Kathu Mayor Chaianan Suthikul and Anucha Voranetiwong, General Manager of P. R.A. Solution Co, as key guests.

The man behind Phuket Floating Market, Mr Anucha, explained, “We invested in the floating market because we wanted the project to become Phuket’s central marketplace and to generate income for local people. Phuket is already a tourist destination, so we wanted to develop the number one market – or even better, the only floating market – in Phuket.

“We invested more than B200 million to transform the tin mine covering 35 rai into a shopping arcade floating on water. The building took 18 months to complete and today it houses 288 businesses, including restaurants, clothing shops, spas, health massage stalls, souvenir shops and stalls selling OTOP (One Tambon, One Product) products from all over Thailand,” Mr Anucha explained.

“It will be the centre for quality products at affordable prices. You will find shops such as Pimchana dried fruit, fresh coffee shop The Hero Cafe, Baitong Souvenir, just to name a few,” he added.

Visitors can enjoy local desserts and homemade delicacies from many shops at the market, and even take a boat tour of the area, or just take a boat from one shopping zone to another.

“The chic design is a very modern mix of Thai-Phuket style,” said Mr Anucha. “This reflects the mix of traditional and modern styles present in local people’s lives today.”

Wynn Sinchai, Floating Market Manager, added, “Beside shops and restaurants, we also have live entertainment such as traditional Thai dance, sword-fighting dance and cabaret every day at 11am, 2pm and 6pm. All shows are free of charge.

“We had over 1,000 visitors each day for our first Saturday and Sunday and we expect the number to rise in the future,” he said.

In addition, artists and musicians also perform each night, he added.

“Next month, we will add more stalls at the front of the complex where a nightly market will be held 5pm to midnight each night. The area will be decorated with statues of all sorts of superheroes,” Mr Wynn said.

Units at the Floating Market are still available, he added.

“The stalls are about 3×4 metres and available on one-year lease. Soon, when we open the night market, people can rent stall sites there too

Phuket Floating Market is open daily from 10am-10pm. For more information call 089-8736952.

International tourist arrivals to Thailand reached 11.6 million, an improvement of 14.12% during January to April, this year, according to Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports.

Released earlier this week, the ministry’s data showed the country attracted 11,682,144 international visits during the first four months of the year compared to 10,236,611 visits during the same period last year.

Tourism and Sports Minister, Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, said the target for the second quarter is 7.46 million visits (April to June) representing an increase of 6.9%. Revenue should increase 10.8% to THB355 billion.

“China and ASEAN would continue to be the main drivers in Q2,  projected at 2.18 million visits each … China will increase 9.3% and ASEAN  6.7% during the second quarter.”

By June, tourist visits from Europe will top 1.01 million, a 7.5% increase.

In April alone, foreign travellers recorded 2,643,251 visits, an increase of 9.79% from 2,407,458 visits during the same month last year.

By regions, all markets recorded increases, January to April, except for Africa and Oceania.

The Middle East recorded the highest growth of 21.96% up from 48,858 to 59,588 visits. Israel posted the highest arrivals with 15,476 visits increasing 61.60% from 9,577 visits.

Other main markets in the Middle East: United Arab Emirates (9,452; +2.17%); Kuwait (4,515; +10.63%); Egypt (2,379; +17.19%) and Saudi Arabia (1,576; +17.88%).

Europe grew 10.51% from 390,480 visits to 431,534 visits. The markets that showed improvements were: Russia (+46.17%); Finland (+21.01%); East Europe (+18.38%); the Netherlands (+18.14%); Denmark (+13.13%); Germany (+10.08%); France (+8.19%); Sweden (+5.49%); Spain (+1.50%); Austria (+0.44%); and Italy (+0.10%).

The markets that showed declines were: Belgium (-20.57%); Switzerland (-15.22%); Ireland (-5.49%); Norway (-2.80%); and the UK (-1.73%).

East Asia (ASEAN included) posted a growth of 10.35% from 1,661,177 to 1,833,118 visits.

The markets that showed improvements were: Cambodia (+47.07%); Myanmar (+45.38%); Laos (+17.90%); China (+16.38%); South Korea (+10.98%); Malaysia (+7.36%); the Philippines (+4.81%); Japan (+4.69%); Singapore (+2.75%); and Indonesia (+0.41%).

The markets that showed declines were: Hong Kong (-19.51%); Vietnam (-14.87%); Taiwan (-9.61%); and Brunei (-1.17%).

Americas increased 8.58% from 98,869 to 107,349 visits. Argentina reported a 45.39% increase from 2,798 to 4,068.

The US recorded the highest arrivals at 74,755 up 10.83% from 67,450 followed by Canada (18,825; -2.58%) and Brazil (4,543; +9.97%).

South Asia represented an increase of 6.88% from 113,419 to 121,219 visits. India led the field supplying 94,012 visits growing 9.76% from 85,653 followed by Sri Lanka (8,080; -5.68%), Bangladesh (7,693; -1.90%), Pakistan (5,260; -19.46%) and Nepal (3,102; +52.13%).

In contrast, Africa showed a decline of 4.25% from 15,098 to 14,457 visits. The main market South Africa decreased 16.52% from 8,300 to 6,929.

Oceania reported a drop off 4.49% from 79,557 to 75,986 visits. The main markets New Zealand and Australia showed declines of 7.38% (8,299) and 4.13% (67,457) respectively.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) much anticipated annual Amazing Thailand Grand Sale (ATGS) campaign is back for its 18th successful year and will be held from 15 June to 15 August, 2016, in cities nationwide. This year, there will be a special focus on female customers to celebrate the TAT’s Women’s Journey Month being held in August.

Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of TAT said, “The Amazing Thailand Grand Sale is now a hugely popular event across the region and boosts tourist and visitor expenditure as well as enhances the image of Thailand as a major shopping destination. It also encourages more local spending and creates jobs. We always look forward to welcoming the world to our sale and hope they take home happy memories as well as some great bargains.”

The Amazing Thailand Grand Sale campaign differs from other events of its type in that as well as offering discounts on a variety of goods, it is also possible to make great savings on tourism products; such as, accommodation, spa treatments, travel, car rental and wellness products.

Taking part in the Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2016 will be 15,000 tourism business operators in more than 110 department stores and shopping centres in seven major tourist destinations of Bangkok, Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai, Hua Hin and Udon Thani. Outlets will offer discounts of up to 80 per cent on goods and services as a way of boosting revenue and promoting Thai products internationally. Shoppers will also enjoy special discounts, trendy items from Thai world-class brands, and chic street items from Thai young designers. There will also be fun events and a lucky draw to win a “Travel 365 Days in Thailand”, which includes flight tickets and accommodation.

The Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2016 will kick off on 15 June, 2016, with the 4th Shopping Challenge activity, which will see 13 teams of representatives from across Asia race around Bangkok’s best loved malls and shops to bargain for items as they compete for a 100,000 Baht prize. Celebrities from across Asia are coming to take part, and last year the first prize went to the Indian team.

The Amazing Thailand Grand Sale campaign was started by TAT in 1999 and has grown considerably year on year. VISA International (Thailand) has been the campaign’s long-term partner, and this year will be giving a wide range rewards to all VISA cardholders attending the sale, allowing them to make even more savings. Cardholders also get an extra chance to win the “Travel 365 Days in Thailand” draw by being able to get two coupons for every 500 Baht spent, rather than the usual one.

This year, to celebrate TAT’s new “Women’s Journey” campaign, which is being held in August, there are special privileges on offer for women shoppers as part of the Amazing Thailand Grand Sale.