Tourism fair at Lumpini Park aims to lure 600,000 visitors

Tourism fair at Lumpini Park aims to lure 600,000 visitors

Decorations for the Thailand Tourism Festival are ready for opening on Wednesday. (Photo by Pawat Laopaisarntaksin)
Decorations for the Thailand Tourism Festival are ready for opening on Wednesday. (Photo by Pawat Laopaisarntaksin)

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) hopes to attract more than 600,000 local and foreign visitors to join Thailand Tourism Festival 2019 (TTF 2019), which kicks off on Wednesday and runs through Sunday at Lumpini Park.

TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the event aims to inspire Thais, expatriates and tourists to travel around Thailand in an environmentally friendly and sustainable way, with the theme of green travel.

Tour packages for 90 new routes will be available, which he estimated will help increase travellers to provincial destinations.

Mr Yuthasak said the fair showcases five tourism villages representing the regions of the country. Each village comes with its own theme or stage for activities and performances.

The TAT expects Thais to make 179 million trips in 2019, up from an estimated 167 million last year.

The country targets welcoming 40.5 million foreign visitors this year, of which some 10 million will be Chinese tourists.

Despite negative sentiment last year, Thailand remains a top destination for Chinese travellers, notably during the upcoming Chinese New Year, according to China's largest online travel agency Ctrip.com International.

Ctrip said 7 million Chinese will travel overseas during the holiday, from Feb 5-10.

The figure is an increase from 6.5 million last year.

The report said people from over 100 Chinese cities had booked travel to nearly 500 destinations across over 90 countries and regions.

Thailand, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore are among the most popular destinations, while Nordic countries, the United Arab Emirates and Spain have seen the fastest growth in Chinese visitors.

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