The chief of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects substantial growth in visitors throughout this year, depending mainly on visits from Europe.
TAT governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool said on Sunday that the number of visitors from Europe had grown rapidly.
From January to April, Thailand welcomed 3.5 million European visitors – up 18.91% year-on-year – and the growth resulted significantly from visitors from Britain, France, Germany and Russia, she said.
According to the TAT governor, last year there were 1.74 million visits from Russia (up by 17.72% year-on-year), 873,364 visits from Germany (up by 19.78%), 965,862 visits from the United Kingdom (up 18.19%) and 281,803 visits from Israel (up 29.81%).
In the first four months of this year, visits from Israel rose by 91.07% year-on-year, those from Uzbekistan increased by 62.57%, those from Poland were up by 38.94% and visits from Romania went up by 32.54%.
Regarding major markets, visits from Britain rose by 20.83%, those from France were up by 21.41% and those from Germany increased by 13.03%.
That resulted from resumed and new direct flights to Thailand’s destinations from Brussels, Copenhagen, London, Madrid, Oslo, Paris, Rome and Stockholm, Ms Thapanee said.
Forward bookings for the July-September period grew by 21% and were likely to rise by 17% in the high season from October to December, she said.
