THURSDAY, March 28, 2024
nationthailand

Tourist arrivals up despite Erawan attack

Tourist arrivals up despite Erawan attack

INTERNATIONAL tourists travelling with members of Thailand’s inbound travel association jumped 60 per cent to 5.2 million this year despite safety concerns that followed the deadly Erawan Shrine bomb attack.

The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) reported the number of international arrivals using its members who arrived at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang international airports last year increased from 3.2 million in 2014.
According to ATTA data, the number of tourists increased every month except in October, which dropped 2.8 per cent. The decline that month was blamed on Erawan bombing in mid-August that killed many people including tourists.
“Despite having faced safety issues following the blast and many countries warning their citizens to beware of coming to Thailand, we still received more customers,” an ATTA executive member said.
One of the things that helped restore inbound tourism, the executive said, was giving visa free exemption for tourists, as well as introducing attractive packages from airlines and private sector months after the bombing.
The top 15 markets for ATTA last year were China, Russia, India, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, Indonesia, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Germany, Malaysia, France, Iran and Spain. However, some major markets declined due to economic problems, with arrivals from Russia and France declining 62 per cent and 16 per cent respectively.
Last year, the number of tourists travelling with ATTA members jumped between 70-80 per cent from January to August but the growth rate fell to less than 10 per cent from September until the end of the year.
The number of visitors from some countries grew dramatically, with arrivals from Ukraine climbing 3,278 per cent last year compared to 2014 while arrivals from Bahrain jumped 1,413 per cent on the year.
Tourist arrivals from Asia and the Middle East rose 110 per cent and 45 per cent respectively on the year while the number of arrivals from Russia and Commonwealth Independent States plunged 59 per cent.
Arrivals from East and North Europe were down 15 per cent and down 31 per cent from Australia and New Zealand.
The association’s representatives believe that the country could meet this year’s target of more than 30 million tourists.
ATTA members expect to gain more tourists, particularly from mainland China, with more than five million Chinese travelling to Thailand last year. More than 3.2 million of them used ATTA member travel agent members.

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