More than 3 million foreigners visited Thailand in July as China remained on top of arrivals, despite the boat tragedy in Phuket that took place early in the month.
Trip cancellations from the Chinese market were detected after the incident, but the situation has improved after Thai officials stepped up security measures.
Pongpanu Svetarundr, permanent secretary of the Tourism and Sports Ministry, said about 3.2 million foreigners visited Thailand in July this year, representing growth of 2.9% compared with the same month last year.
By region, the highest arrival numbers were seen from East Asia, Europe, South Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, Oceania and Africa, in order from most to least.
The highest arrival numbers by country or territory were seen from China, Malaysia, South Korea, Laos, India, Japan, Vietnam, Hong Kong, the US and Britain, in that order.
Mr Pongpanu said tourists generated income of 166.4 billion baht in July, a 3.7% increase from July 2017.
During the first seven months of this year, Thailand received 22.6 million visitors, up 11% year-on-year, with 1.2 trillion baht income, or a 14.4% rise.
In the domestic market, locals made 13.67 million trips in June this year, up 3.5% from last June.
Local tourists generated revenue of 77.8 billion baht, up 7% from June 2017.
EVENTS SCHEDULED
Business events in Thailand are expected to rise in the remaining months of this year thanks to conferences and meetings, including the Food and Hotel Thailand (FHT) 2018, which is scheduled to take place at Bitec during Sept 5-8.
Justin Pau, general manager of UBM Asia Thailand, the organiser of FHT, said the exhibition features products and services from more than 1,500 brands in 33 countries, including Thailand.
Visitors can explore seven international country pavilions from leaders in this sector, one each from China, Italy, Poland and South Africa, and three pavilions from Japan, he said.
"This year's event includes four new pavilions: Italy's "Bellavita", showcasing new Italian food and beverage products, Japan's "Osaka" and "Taito Tokyo", highlighting new and exciting Japanese food, beverage and hospitality products, and Poland's National Support Centre for Agriculture, which will feature new food and beverage products.
He expects the event to create business deals in excess of 5 billion baht.