Thailand's Ministry of Tourism and Sports announced that the number of foreign tourists arriving in Thailand has reached 25.7 million since January 1, 2023, generating revenue of 1,098.082 billion baht (about 31.32 billion US dollars). Jay Chou's concert in December also pushed Chinese tourists to the top of the list.
From December 4 to 10, 2023, the number of foreign tourists entering Thailand was 655,653, an increase of 61,619 or 10.37% from the previous week. The average number of foreign tourists arriving in Thailand per day is 93,665.
Chinese tourists jumped to the top with 100,704 arrivals, up 23,861 from the previous week. This is thanks to Jay Chou's concert, which attracted a lot of fans from China. The concert also coincided with a public holiday in Selangor, Malaysia.
The top five countries of origin for foreign tourists to Thailand are:
China (100,704, up 31.05%)
Malaysia (94,513, up 22.98%)
Russia (42,166, down 0.64%)
South Korea (40,572, up 7.51%)
India (39,053, up 9.25%)
Meanwhile, Thailand's Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Sreta Tavisin, summoned Minister of Tourism and Sports Sudawan Wangsupakikosol, senior managers and directors of the Tourism Authority of Thailand's (TAT) 45 domestic offices to receive instructions on four initiatives to promote domestic tourism: Promote tourism in second-tier cities to make Thailand a year-round peak season and facilitate the travel and connectivity of tourists.
Thailand's Prime Minister asked the National Tourism Authority to speed up efforts to encourage tourism in second-tier cities and promote products that tourists are interested in. He also instructed the National Tourism Administration to identify the strengths and uniqueness of each region's soft power and use them to promote tourism.
"Many governments are focused on reaching more than 40 million foreign tourists, but this administration wants to increase the spending of tourists per trip. We want them to stay longer, like tourists do in France, to increase per capita spending," said the prime minister.
He added: "I come from a business background, so I can call a spade a spade. I'm sorry, but we're looking at per capita spending. We want to uncover hidden gems. The amount of money circulating in the system is a better indicator of success. I've been in office for three months and haven't talked to any department other than tourism. This index shows that tourism is an important part of the economy. ”
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