Thailand hopes to earn big from tourism in 2017

Tourists flock to Wat Phra Kaew temple in Bang Kok (Photo: VNA)

Bangkok (VNA) – The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) forecasts close to 370,000 international tourists will arrive in the country from December 31, 2016 to January 3, 2017, which is expected to bring 5.5 billion baht (over 152 million USD) in revenue.

TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the figures are calculated based on the number of booking flights (65) and seats (16,300), encompassing 39 flights to Bangkok, 23 to Phuket, and three to Chiang Mai, from 11 nations.

Potential markets include Germany, Japan, the UK, and Russia.

The TAT is mulling over policies to draw Chinese visitors as the number of holidaymakers from this country is decreasing after Thailand restricted “zero USD” tours and tightened illegal tourism business management.

Yuthasak said the number of Chinese tourists to Thailand in 2016 was reduced by 16 percent in October and 30 percent in November. The volume is due to slash by 10 percent in the last month of this year.

The TAT will seek to promote flights to Thailand in Shanghai and Beijing, while encouraging more flights from China between December 2016 and February 2017.

The TAT hopes to welcome 9.8 million Chinese tourists in 2017.-VNA

VNA