International tourists visiting Thailand have reached 10.72 million for the year to date, up 1.9% year-on-year, and tourism revenue reached 559 billion baht, an increase of 4.2%, says Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul.
"The tourism business has continued to grow in both arrivals and revenue, and this will be used to draw more foreign investors to spend on this sector in Thailand," Mrs Kobkarn said.
She confirmed that Thailand is ready to host the World Travel Tourism Council (WTTC) Global Summit during April 25-27.
The international tourism summit will be attended by former British prime minister David Cameron as well as executives such as AirAsia founder Tony Fernandes, Emirates Group president Gary Chapman, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group chief executive James Riley, Google Travel managing director Rob Torres, Agoda co-founder Robert Rosenstein and Siam Piwat president Chadathip Chutrakul.
Siam Piwat's Siam Discovery mall was just awarded Store Design of the Year from the World Retail Congress in Dubai on April 6.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will use the summit to present Thailand to 750 participants, encouraging foreign investors to splash out here.
Pongpanu Svetarundra, permanent secretary at the Tourism and Sports Ministry, said that at least 10 top tourism leaders will take part in the ministerial forum on April 25.
Thailand is the Asean representative to draw tourism investment to the region under the "Ease of Doing Business in Tourism in Asean" theme.