Tourism records good growth in 5 months

The announcement was made yesterday as the “Thailand Travel Mart Plus” opened in Chiang Mai to delegates from around the world. This year’s theme is “Amazing Gateway to the Greater Mekong Subregion”.
Last month, the Thai tourism industry recorded 2.59 million visitor arrivals (up 4.6 per cent year on year), generating an estimated Bt125 billion (up 6.91 per cent). 
Visitors from East Asia numbered 1.899 million (up 6.01 per cent), from the Americas 111,000 (up 7.09 per cent), from South Asia 165,000 (up 6.42 per cent), from Oceania 70,000 (up 6.17 per cent), and from Africa 14,000 (up 5.28 per cent).
The markets reporting slowdowns were Europe at 303,000 (down 1.89 per cent) and the Middle East at 39,000 (down 19.31 per cent).
The top 10 source markets in May were China (762,000, up 3.20 per cent), Malaysia (308,000, up 2.58 per cent), India (140,000, up 8.53 per cent), Laos (130,000, up 14.51 per cent), South Korea (112,000, up 16.58 per cent), Japan (108,000, up 7.42 per cent), Vietnam (84,000, up 15.73 per cent), Singapore (83,000, up 6.04 per cent), the United States (77,000, up 6.20 per cent) and Cambodia (71,000, up 5.50 per cent).
Tourism receipts last month totalled Bt125.43 billion (up 6.91 per cent).
Visitors from East Asia generated Bt76.88 billion (up 8.82 per cent), from the Americas Bt8.16 billion (up 16.88 per cent), from South Asia Bt7.8 billion (up 6.16 per cent), from Oceania Bt5.52 billion (up 7.93 per cent), from Africa Bt950 million (up 7.98 per cent), from Europe Bt23.16 billion (up 1.65 per cent) and from the Middle East Bt2.96 billion (down 17.02 per cent).
The top 10 markets in terms of tourism receipts were China at Bt39.15 billion (up 4.69 per cent), Malaysia at Bt8.24 billion (up 9.53 per cent), India at Bt6.71 billion (up 7.04 per cent), Russia at Bt5.74 billion (up 15.72 per cent), the US at Bt5.69 billion (up 17.45 per cent), the United Kingdom at Bt5.09 billion (down 0.41 per cent), South Korea at Bt5.05 billion (up 16.98 per cent), Australia at Bt4.91 billion (up 7.99 per cent), Japan at Bt4.55 billion (up 7.67 per cent), and Singapore at Bt3.17 billion (up 11.50 per cent).
Thailand recorded Bt747 billion in receipts from international tourism in the January-May period, while domestic tourism contributed Bt305 billion from January to April.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has set a target of 35.7 million international visitors this year, generating an estimated Bt1.81 trillion – a 10-per-cent year-on-year increase.
A report by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports said Chinese visitors had clearly recovered from the impact of the recent crackdown on low-quality “zero-dollar” tours,