The Thailand’s central bank has assured that the tourism industry hascontinued to expand despite the financial crisis in Europe .
The Bank of Thailand (BoT)’s Senior Director for Macroeconomic andMonetary Policy Department Mathee Supapongse said on July 31 that thetravel and hotel sectors recorded constant growth in June, when about160,000 foreign holiday-makers visited the country. The numberrepresented a 10.1-percent on-year growth.
Mathee said thatvisitor numbers to every region of Thailand have increased, withChinese and Vietnamese visitors on top of the list.
He credited the continued growth of Asian economy for the buoyant situation in the travel sector.
Concerningthe country’s hotel occupancy rate, Mathee said that the number was53.5 percent in June, up from 49.7 percent from the same time of lastyear.
For the second quarter of 2012, around 4.9 millionoverseas travellers landed in Thailand , an on-year increase of 9.2percent, with most visitors coming from within the Southeast Asianregion. This is in spite of the bombings in Hat Yai and earthquakescares in the South, in March and April, respectively.
TheBoT’s Senior Director has also affirmed that the debt crisis in Eurozonehas not affected Thailand ’s major money-spinner much, so far.-VNA
