On May 1, 2023, Chinese tourists will flock to the Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand, to see the site. Chinese tourist arrivals to Thailand hit one million in mid-May, on a course to meet the country's full-year target on the Chinese market of five million, an official from Thailand's tourism body said Wednesday.
The return of Chinese tourists is a boon for the country amid the headwinds to recovery from the pandemic, says Chuwit Sirivejkul, regional director for East Asia of the tourism authority of Thailand.
The government expects the spending of Chinese visitors to reach 446 billion baht $13.18 billion.
We are working closely with Chinese airlines. We try to expand flight routes between the two countries, especially for secondary destinations, he said.
The Chinese passengers are welcomed at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Samut Prakan, Thailand, January 9, 2023, by Thai officials. According to the Aeronautical Radio of Thailand, there have been 12,805 flights between Thailand and China between October and April, a 98 percent increase compared to the same period last year. The number is predicted to increase to more than 46,000 by the end of September.
Thailand recorded 9.47 million visitors from January to mid-May, compared to the 11.15 million visitors in the whole of 2022.
In a pre-pandemic 2019, Chinese tourists accounted for 28 percent of nearly 40 million foreign tourists to Thailand. Thailand's economy depends heavily on tourism, a key player in the economy, which accounts for about 12 percent of the country's GDP.