BANGKOK, June 10 (TNA) – The governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expressed confidence that Thai tourism would grow as targeted in the second half of this year especially because the number of Chinese visitors was increasing steadily and is likely to reach 11-12 million at the end of this year.
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said Thai tourism had been good since early this year and the number of Chinese visitors was rising as expected though not showing a surge as in the same period last year.
He predicted the number of Chinese visitors would go up by 10% from 10.5 million last year to 11-12 million this year. They would spend 500-600 billion baht in the country. Chinese tourists with high purchasing power just shifted their destination from the United States to Thailand, the products and services of which met their demand, Mr Yuthasak said.
However, he admitted that global economic problems and stronger baht were limiting tourists’ spending. Therefore, the TAT would implement measures to stimulate their spending in the second half of this year. He expected the country to generate tourism-related income worth 3.4 trillion baht from 40-41 million tourists this year, up 10% from last year’s income. (TNA)
