Tour agents and tourism operators are confident that Chinese tourists will return to Thailand as normal during China's long Golden Week holiday beginning next Thursday.
The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) projects that Thailand will welcome around 200,000 Chinese visitors during the seven-day national holiday, which starts on Oct 1, similar to last year's figure.
In the first eight months, ATTA reported the number of Chinese tourist arrivals via its members at Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang airports surged 253% to 2.20 million. In August alone, the number of Chinese travellers via its members grew 69% to just under 457,000.
The Thailand-China Tourism Association (TCTA) revealed that forward booking by Chinese tourists during the Golden Week bounced back 80%.
Ronnarong Cheewinsiriamnuai, the TCTA president, said it found the confidence of Chinese travellers has been restored since the Aug 17 bombing at the Erawan Shrine.
Ten days after the blast, 45% of package tour bookings were cancelled.
However, the TCTA is confident that business will fully bounce back by the New Year festival and boom again during Chinese New Year.
"It's very fast to see a 100% recovery within two months after a violent incident. The friendliness and kindness of Thai people are the main reasons for the quick recovery," he added.
The TCTA forecast total Chinese arrivals will be around 7 million this year, lower than the earlier projection of 7.3 million. However, it strongly believes Thailand has the potential to welcome 10 million Chinese visitors in 2016.
Mr Ronnarong said although the number seemed huge, it is less than 1% of the total population of China.
The TCTA and Airports of Thailand Plc plan to organise a roadshow in Kunming, Yunnan this week to promote Chiang Rai as a new tourist destination to help reduce congestion at major destinations.
The TCTA plans to talk with Chinese travel agents to convince their clients to buy insurance before travelling to Thailand. The association will also require medical certificates for elderly tourists because many old travellers can easily fall sick during their holiday.