Chinese arrivals pick up thanks to visa-on-arrival fee waiver
The number of Chinese arrivals to Thailand is expected to hit 10.8 million to 10.99 million this year, representing a growth of between 2.6 and 4.4 per cent from last year, the Kasikorn Research Centre said.
As per figures from the Tourism and Sports Ministry, up to 1 million Chinese arrivals were recorded in August alone.
One of the contributing factors to the increase in tourists is the extension of the waiver on visa-on-arrival fees to April next year. The current waiver covering visitors from 18 countries and one economic zone, including India and China, is set to expire in October.
The research house also put the rise in arrivals to the ongoing unrest in Hong Kong, which is forcing holidaymakers from China to change their destination.
In the first eight months of this year, 7.7 million Chinese tourists arrived in Thailand, down only 0.8 per cent when compared to the same period last year.
KResearch said Thailand’s tourism industry should maintain its recovery for the rest of the year thanks to the visa-on-arrival fee waiver and China’s long national-day holiday from October 1 to 7. As many as 240,000 Chinese people are expected to arrive in Thailand during the national day break, up 18 per cent from the same period last year.
However, maintaining the growth in Chinese arrivals may prove to be challenging next year due to unfavourable economic conditions in China and the drop in the value of yuan. Besides, Thailand is also facing tough competition from other countries in wooing Chinese tourists.
According to the Fiscal Policy Office, the number of tourist arrivals to Thailand in August stood at 3.47 million, up 7.4 per cent year on year. The number of Chinese arrivals to Thailand in the same month expanded 18.9 per cent year on year, while Indian arrivals expanded 32.4 per cent.
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