The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has revised up the 2016 tourism revenue target by 14% year-on-year to 2.58 trillion following strong growth in the first nine months.
Of the revised projection, 1.72 trillion baht will come from foreign tourists, up 18% from last year, and the remaining 860 billion baht from local travel, up 7%, said TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn.
"The upward revision is based on the strong growth in the first nine months for both foreign and local tourist markets," he said.
TAT predicted tourism receipts in the first nine months of 2016 would rise 14% year-on-year to 1.88 trillion baht.
Arrivals to Thailand will reach 24.94 million, up 13%, and generate tourism revenue of 1.25 trillion baht, up 17%.
Meanwhile, domestic tourism is also expected to do well with 111 million trips, up 4%, and generate revenue of 629 billion baht, up 6%, during the nine-month period.
Tourist numbers are projected to grow in most markets: Northeast Asia (17%), Americas (15%), Asean (10%), South Asia (10%), Europe (10%), Middle East (8%) and Africa (5%). The Oceania market was seen shrinking by 0.7%.
Film Phetcharas, a Facebook user, posted a set of photos of himself in Tossakan costume to promote Thai tourism on Aug 31, 2016. The photos have since been widely shared in social media. Tossakan is a giant character in the Ramakien epic based the Ramayana.