The Tourism Authority of Thailand reports Thailand has recorded more than 14 million tourist arrivals in the first 11 months of 2010 and expects the number for the whole year to surpass 15 million.
TAT Governor Surapol Sawetseranee said that in the 11 months, 14.03 million travellers have visited Thailand, a rise of 12.63 percent. It is expected that figures for December will reach 1.3 million, totaling to the 15.7 million for the year. The TAT governor said the reason foreign travellers to have chosen Thailand as their holiday destination was the remarkable experience with remarkable services offered, including the opportunity to tap into vast resources in eco-tourism in its seven regions. On a quarterly basis, Surapol said the 1st and 2nd quarters have seen lower tourist activities owing to the 70 days of political chaos. However, during the two latter quarters in the year, tourist activities eventually regained momentum.
The TAT governor said while most of the incoming are still Chinese travellers, plans for the year 2011 will aim at motivating more Chinese tourists from the middle- and upper-classes, followed by the Scandinavians, second target group, whose travel into Thailand is very desirable as they have more spending-power. The TAT governor said tourist figures for the year 2011 were predicted to reach 15.5 million, and will add as much 600,000 million baht (RM62.621 million) into the domestic economy.
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