Thailand’s travel numbers continue to grow. In only the first two months of 2018, Thailand welcomed 7.11 million tourists, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports’ latest tourism performance data.
By those numbers, year-on-year arrivals are up 14.94 percent compared to 2017 though, to be fair, the arrivals data includes all travel purposes counted at immigration checkpoints, not just tourism-related trips.
The checkpoint entry count, including arrivals by air, sea, and land, was up by 19.29 percent in February alone, but that’s likely due to the Chinese New Year falling in February as opposed to falling in late January as it did last year.
Unsurprisingly, the top three countries that foreigners arrived from were China, Malaysia, and Russia. They accounted for revenue of THB382 billion (US$12.24 million), which is an increase of 16.38 percent year-on-year.
During a meeting of the National Tourism Board late last week, tourism officials said building tourist confidence in the country and ensuring security and safety measures were priorities.
With more than three million tourists in the country every month, safety and raising the standard of land and sea transport was a priority. The ministry is also expanding its role in destination management, starting with comprehensive carrying capacity studies for all major destinations.
At the same meeting, the board revived a project known as the “Thailand Riviera,” a reference to a stretch of the Gulf of Thailand from Hua Hin to Chumphon province, that they hope to further develop as resort towns
Story: The Phuket News
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