Thailand braces for record Q4

Tourism Council of Thailand estimates international tourist arrivals to Thailand could reach 9.15 million during the last quarter, October to December, generating THB469,350 million in revenue.

Speaking at the council’s press conference, Wednesday, TCT president Ittirit Kinglek also noted that the Thailand Tourism Confidence Index indicated a level of 102 in Q4 compared to the confidence benchmark of 100. The index is based on data from 600 tour agencies.

The index for Q3 reported a level of 98.

“Foreign tourists have increased steadily since the beginning of the year…Q4 is the peak tourism season and also has various festivals and holidays, which will encourage more travellers to visit the country,” he said.

Usually the peak winter season gets into gear mid-October and starts in earnest in November extending through to February at popular beach resorts. However, the peak season for the Thai capital differ with just a couple of months each year when travel slows dramatically (August and September).

It is still unclear if the crackdown on zero dollar tourism will cut tourist arrivals from China over the next couple of months, but travel executives told TTR Weekly that at the new minimum selling price of just THB1,000 per person, per day it should not have a marked impact on the country’s tourism related revenue.

Up until the crackdown the daily rate was considerably lower, well below breakeven costs for travel suppliers.

The council expects 2.61 million Chinese tourists to visit Thailand during the fourth quarter, up 43.49%. The overall number could reach 10.19 million visits by the end of the year.

For the last quarter of this year, TCT estimates that there will be 9.15 million international travellers up 17.76% over the same quarter last year.

Of that, 2.65 million visits would come from ASEAN (+20.82%), 3.29 million from the Middle East (+17.52%) and 1.89 million from Europe (+11.85%).