Tourist arrivals dip by 2.9%
Thailand recorded 19.76 million foreign tourist arrivals between Jan 1 and Aug 15, down 2.91% year on year, generating 957.6 billion baht in spending.
Thailand's foreign tourist arrivals decreased by 2.91% compared to the previous year, with 19.76 million visitors arriving between January 1 and August 15, as per official data. The tourism sector contributed 957.6 billion baht to the nation's economy through tourist spending. Surasak Phancharoenworakul, the Tourism and Sports Minister, reported that Chinese tourists remained the most numerous, accounting for 3.33 million arrivals, followed by Malaysian visitors at 2.49 million and Indian tourists with 1.45 million.
Russia saw 1.14 million visitors, while South Korea recorded 729,000 foreign tourists. In the second week of August alone, Thailand welcomed 612,643 foreign tourists, which represented a 3.79% decline from the previous week, averaging 87,520 daily arrivals. Short-haul visitors decreased by 1.76% to 413,815, while long-haul arrivals dropped by 7.76% to 198,828.
The ministry attributed the decline to the end of China's summer holidays and Malaysia's preparations for a long weekend. Despite these trends, Japanese arrivals saw a 13.71% increase.
Written by urgent.news from Bangkok Post Business's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
