Big foreign wave set for Songkran

Big foreign wave set for Songkran

Foreign visitors get in on the water fight action at Khao San Road. Apichart Jinakul
Foreign visitors get in on the water fight action at Khao San Road. Apichart Jinakul

More than 530,000 foreigners are expected to visit Thailand to enjoy Songkran next month, generating income of 9 billion baht.

Locals are expected to make up to 3 million trips and spend 10 billion baht over the five-day holiday starting April 13, the date that traditionally marks the Thai new year.

Weerasak Kowsurat, the tourism and sports minister, said data from the intelligence unit of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) indicates that 530,000 foreign tourists will come to Thailand during April 12-16, a 13% rise from the same period last year, with tourism income rising by 21% to 9.37 billion baht.

The unit also predicts that the number of domestic trips will increase by 12% to 3 million, with spending from locals rising to 10.4 billion baht, a 15% increase year-on-year.

Combined tourism income from locals and foreigners from the festival could bring in nearly 20 billion baht to the country, representing 18% growth from last year's holiday.

The growth projection for foreign arrivals is based partly on forward bookings for many airlines as they continue to increase from a number of countries, including France, Taiwan, South Korea, Russia, Australia, India, the United Arab Emirates and Japan.

But bookings from the US have dropped 9%.

Apart from forward bookings, visitors are also arriving in Thailand via chartered flights and low-cost airlines.

Many visitors from neighbouring countries, including Malaysia, are set to head over for the holiday.

The number of tourists from mainland China is forecast to increase by 38% to 165,000.

The TAT forecasts foreign tourists to spend, on average, three days in Thailand, shelling out 5,500 baht per person per day.

For the domestic market, the government's tax deduction scheme and the extension to a five-day holiday are aimed at pushing more locals to spend time visiting secondary provinces.

Mr Weerasak said the government will highlight Songkran in five secondary provinces -- Nakhon Sri Thammarat, Kalasin, Chanthaburi, Sing Buri and Kamphaeng Phet -- to boost visitor numbers and income.

Major airlines also plan to increase the frequency of flights to serve higher demand during the holiday.

Thai AirAsia plans to boost the frequency of flights from Don Mueang airport to Khon Kaen and Chiang Mai.

New Gen Airways will have more frequent flights between Bangkok and Nakhon Ratchasima.

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