Weekly gain in tourists seen despite border tension
Arrivals rose in all key markets over the past week, supported by the summer holiday season and an extended public holiday in Japan, Sasikarn Watthanachan said on Thursday.
Japanese arrivals jumped by 86% from the previous week, moving the country up from fifth to third place among top source markets.
Long-haul markets also showed growth, particularly Israel, where travel picked up following the conclusion of religious observances. In total, 627,339 foreign tourists entered Thailand from Aug 4-10, up by 41,529 or 7.1% from the week before, and averaging of 89,620 arrivals per day.
The top five source markets last week were: China (102,750, up 5.5% from the week before), Malaysia (85,622, up 10.6%), Japan (37,611), India (35,387) and South Korea (32,320).
For the year to date, however, foreign arrivals are still down by 6% from a year ago, largely because of a steep 30% decline in Chinese visitors who are worried about safety in Thailand. A strengthening baht has become an additional worry, say industry executives.
As of Aug 10, Thailand has welcomed 20.2 million foreign visitors, generating 937 billion baht in revenue, Ms Sasikarn said, citing figures from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
The top five countries by total arrivals were China (2,835,910), Malaysia (2,785,725), India (1,426,080), Russia (1,144,105) and South Korea (950,692).
'The government is moving ahead to promote tourism to enhance service quality and safety standards to ensure visitors leave with a positive impression and confidence in Thailand as a destination,' said the spokeswoman.
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