Thailand expects big rise in Chinese New Year tourists

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Thailand’s tourism body expects 300,000 visitors from China during the lunar New Year holidays, an approximately 18-percent rise from a year ago.

The number of Chinese visitors during the 2017 holidays was hit by a Thai government crackdown on budget tourism and the mourning period for the country’s late king.

Tourism accounts for about 12 percent of the gross domestic product in Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy, making it one of the most important drivers of growth. The largest number of foreign visitors come from China.

A shop in Chinatown at Bangkok, Thailand. /Reuters Photo

Chinese tourists during the lunar New Year period, which falls on Feb. 16 and lasts until Feb. 21, will “generate about 8 billion baht (253.9 million US dollars) in revenue,” Santi Chudintra, deputy governor at the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), told reporters on Monday.

In 2017, about 255,000 Chinese tourists visited during the lunar New Year.

Thailand’s tourism ministry said last month it expected this year’s tourist arrivals to hit a record 37.55 million, with 2.1 trillion baht ( 1 US dollar = 31.51 baht) in spending.

A young Chinese tourist taking pictures inside a temple in Bangkok. /Reuters Photo‍

Chinese tourists, who accounted for nearly one-third of last year’s record 35 million arrivals, are expected to rise this year to around 10 million from 9.8 million.

Thailand has become increasingly popular with Chinese tourists in recent years. The country is also home to one of the world’s largest ethnic Chinese communities.

In late 2016, Thailand launched a crackdown against “zero-dollar” package tours – an arrangement where tourists paid for everything upfront and in theory spent nothing while in the country. The tourism ministry said the campaign, which ended in 2017, was a success.

Source(s): Reuters