Thailand hitting record high tourist arrival and spending for first half of 2015
Thailand hitting record high tourist arrival and spending for first half of 2015
Tourism is booming in Thailand. In 2015, TAT (Tourism Authority of Thailand) has projected 28.8 million international visitors and so far the preliminary figures of the first half of 2015 has exceeded the projection.
China is leading the way to be the top visitor and top spender to Thailand with 4 million Chinese visited the kingdom which is an increase 111% and also a huge 138% of increase in spending and compare to first half of 2014 according to figures released by Thailand Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
Malaysia is the second top visitor and spender in the top 10 list. For the first half of 2015, 1.7 million Malaysians (+57.93%) spent 39.77 billion Baht (+64.58%) compare to first half of 2014.
Other nationalities in the top-ten list of visitor expenditure in January – June 2015 were:
| Country (January – June 2015) | Amount (billion Baht) | % change over January – June 2014 |
| China | 190.919 | +138.91 |
| Malaysia | 39.755 | +64.58 |
| United Kingdom | 32.498 | +4.55 |
| Russia | 31.768 | -50.43 |
| USA | 29.938 | +15.80 |
| Australia | 29.021 | +6.18 |
| Japan | 27.972 | +28.42 |
| Korea | 26.775 | +29.12 |
| Germany | 25.094 | +9.38 |
| France | 24.304 | +16.35 |
In terms of arrivals, the top-ten nationalities were:
| Country (January – June 2015) | Amount | % change over January – June 2014 |
| China | 4,006,584 | +111.64 |
| Malaysia | 1,704,370 | +57.93 |
| Japan | 675,758 | +16.79 |
| Korea | 638,296 | +19.71 |
| Laos | 565,601 | +20.73 |
| India | 526,120 | +17.01 |
| Russia | 466,457 | -50.35 |
| United Kingdom | 462,633 | +2.73 |
| Singapore | 459,795 | +36.46 |
| USA | 426,955 | +12.21 |
Thailand is one of the top destinations for Malaysians for food, getaway, holiday, shopping and spa.
I visited Thailand four times this year and I am planning for a couple of visits at the end of the year. With the first half numbers, the number of Malaysians visiting Thailand can easily break the 3 million which is the record set in 2013.
I can’t wait to revisit Thailand again for the good food, great accommodation and shopping!
The Thailand tourism figures are sourced from http://www.tatnews.org/chinese-visitor-arrivals-expenditure-more-than-double-in-jan-june-2015/#sthash.podOmESR.dpuf
