National —
The Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports reported on April 2nd, 2024, that Thailand welcomed 9.37 million foreign tourists in the first quarter of 2024, a 44% increase from the same period in 2023.
According to Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol, these tourists helped Thailand generate over 454 billion baht in tourism revenue.
The top five nationalities of tourists visiting Thailand in Q1 2024 were China (1,756,337 people), Malaysia (1,168,574), Russia (622,813), South Korea (558,873), and India (472,952).
Ms. Sudawan emphasized that the number of European and Oceanian tourists, particularly from the United Kingdom, has increased significantly in the past week due to Easter holidays. This week, Thailand received a total of 644,328 foreign tourists, a minor decrease of 6,990 or 1.07% from the previous week. This translates to an average of 92,047 foreign tourists arriving in the country each day.
Ms. Sudawan noted that there were 44.08% and 5.03% increases in tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom and Malaysia respectively, compared to last week. However, the number of tourists from India, Russia, and China decreased by 15.13%, 8.10%, and 5.80%, respectively.
Ms. Sudawan expected that the number of foreign tourists arriving in Thailand will remain stable in the coming week. This is due to a number of factors, such as a visa waiver agreement between Thailand and China, increased flights by airlines, and visa exemption for tourists from India, Taiwan, and Kazakhstan.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s popular Songkran festival is just around the corner.