Foreign tourist arrivals up 18% year-on-year in first half of Feb
Play
THE tourism sector bounced back in first half of February with an 18-per-cent surge in foreign-tourist arrivals and a 78-per-cent occupancy rate in the hotel sector thanks to several major events.
The “improved” political situation also helped lure visitors to the Kingdom, Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul claimed.
She said yesterday that international arrivals hit 1.4 million between February 1 and 15, an 18-per-cent increase compared with same period last year.
A lot of Chinese tourists are expected to come to Thailand this week and next to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
Arrivals at the four main airports increased by 22 per cent overall between February 1 and 15, accounting for 80 per cent of total visitors.
Kobkarn said tourists using Don Mueang International Airport surged by 65 per cent thanks to more flights using that airport, particularly from budget airlines, but arrivals at Phuket International Airport fell 7 per cent.
The 78-per-cent occupancy rate for the first half of February compares favourably with the 60 per cent in the first quarter of last year.
“During the Chinese New Year, more than 300,000 Chinese are expected to visit Thailand, growth of 49 per cent [year on year]. They are expected to spend Bt6.9 billion, or an increase of 5 per cent,” said Kobkarn, adding that Chinese tourists would spend on average Bt22,600 per person per trip.
The minister said about 890 charter flights from mainland China and Hong Kong would land in Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Krabi. Of those special services, 560 flights would land in Bangkok.
She said her ministry recently met with the head of the Japan Long Stay Foundation and discussed measures to boost the number of Japanese extending their stays in Thailand.
Potential measures include extending visas from one year to 10 years and allowing property and other assets to be transferred to Thailand.
Currently, 58,143 Japanese are living in the Kingdom.
To continue luring more foreign tourists, Kobkarn said her ministry would work with neighbouring countries such as Cambodia to promote a new tourism campaign, “Two Kingdoms One Destination”, by facilitating cross-border travel for tourists in a third country.
Meanwhile, she said Cambodia had asked Thailand to provide it with human-resource development and training for the tourism sector.
The ministry has proposed using Chiang Rai as the venue for the debut meeting of the Asean Tourism Working Group after it was established last month in Myanmar, with Asean tourism ministers set to promote the region to global markets.
For the domestic market, Kobkarn said the ministry was set to complete the major parts of the “Tourism Road Map 2020” master plan this month.
“The national tourism development plan is divided into eight clusters nationwide. [Plans for] five of them will be completed this month,” she said.
