Chinese tourist arrivals are on course to hit 1 million a month from October, a level last seen before the pandemic, as travel is expected to gather momentum during the winter and long national holidays, says the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Advanced hotel bookings and requests for chartered flights pointed to a surge in arrivals, Chuwit Sirivejkul, regional director for East Asia at the TAT, said at a briefing on Tuesday.
The return of Chinese travellers, who accounted for more than a quarter of all visitors to the country before the Covid outbreak, is seen as a boon for the economy amid headwinds to recovery from a global slowdown. Beijing allowed tourists to travel in groups in February after abandoning its Covid-Zero policy.
Chinese tourist arrivals jumped to about 270,000 in March from less than 100,000 in January, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. Daily arrivals from China have averaged between 8,000 to 10,000 since Feb 6 when group travel was allowed, according to Mr Chuwit.
The TAT is maintaining its official forecast of Chinese visitors at 5 million this year, though arrivals could jump to as high as 7 million depending on the number of flights during the high season between October and March, he said.
Overall tourist arrivals have topped 2 million every month between December and April, according to official data. The Ministry of Finance has forecast international arrivals will reach 29.5 million this year, more than twice last year’s tally of 11.2 million but well below the record 40 million seen in 2019.