Thailand expects to attract 588,900 foreign arrivals during the coming Lunar New Year celebration which starts this week. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand expects tourism spending during the Lunar New Year holidays will reach 21.3 billion baht (640 million USD), equal to 48% of that in 2019.
According to Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Yuthasak Supasorn, during the Lunar New Year celebration which starts this week in many countries, Thailand expects to attract 588,900 foreign arrivals and get a revenue of 16.7 billion baht from January 19 to 27.
Of the total, about 322,500 foreign visitors to the country will be from Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia, bringing it a revenue of 11 billion baht.
Yuthasak said that a strong recovery in tourism stems from increasing demand as countries eased travel restrictions from the last quarter of last year.
He added that tourists from the Republic of Korea post the highest flight booking to Thailand with an increase of 103% compared to that of 2019.
Vietnamese tourists posted bookings of 72% of the 2019 level.
Tourists from Taiwan and Hong Kong (China) to Thailand also posted bookings of 64% and 32% of the 2019 level respectively.
Yuthasak said that the number of visitors from mainland China can reach 29,400 with a spending of about 1 billion baht ($30.2 million), which marks a significant increase from the figure in 2022 – just 767 visitors.
Regarding the domestic tourism market, Yuthasak estimated that revenue could reach 81% compared to 2019, equivalent to 4.6 billion baht, a year-on-year increase of 139%.
During the festive season, Thailand’s tourism industry expects to serve 1.38 million domestic tourists, accounting for 90% of the figure in 2019./.
