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Thailand
recorded a 31% increase in tourism receipts in 2011 over 2010,
according to Ministry of Tourism and Sportsfigures.
The
total earnings of 776 billion baht (US$25.45 billion) were
also well above the original target of 716 billion baht
(US$ 23 billion).
The figures show
that Thailand has recorded clear increases in both quality and
quantity of visitor arrivals. The growth in total number of visitors
is being matched by increased average length of stay and average
daily expenditure, further underscoring the role of tourism as one of
the most important economic sectors and contributor to job creation
and nationwide income distribution.
According
to the Ministry, Thailand recorded 19.23 million international
visitors in 2011, up by 20.67% over 2010. With an average length of
stay of 9.64 days, and an average daily spend of 4,187.12 baht
(US$137) per person, the Thai tourism industry generated 776 billion
baht in earnings.
By
regions, the East Asia (+39.40%) recorded the largest increase in
receipts in 2011, followed by South Asia(+33.27%), Oceania
(+32.84%), Africa (+32.21%), Europe (+26.20%), the Americas (+20.36%)
and Middle East (+19.79%).
Europe
holds the largest share of international tourism receipts
in absolute numbers (38.23% share), reaching US$ 9,733
million in 2011, followed by East Asia (37.33% share or US$ 9,505
million), the Americas (7.10% share or US$ 1,807 million), Oceania
(7.30% share or US$ 1,858 million), South Asia (4.85% share
or US$ 1,235 million), The Middle East (4.29% share) earned US$ 1,093
million and Africa (0.88% share) US$ 224 million.
According
to the per capita daily spending, the top 10 ranked tourism spenders
in 2011 were UAE (US$175.21), Saudi Arabia (US$166.92), South
Africa (US$164.10), India (US$161.78), Hong Kong (US$161.63),
Singapore (US$160.96), Kuwait (US$159.66), Australia (US$159.19),
Brunei Darussalam (US$155.30) and Korea (US$153.17).
Amongst
Asian visitors, the lowest daily spend is by Laotians (US$101.99) and
amongst Europeans, the lowest daily spend is by Germans (US$115.46).
In terms of
total expenditure by all visitors, the top five nationalities were
Russia, China, Australia, Malaysia, and United Kingdom. Here is a
brief snapshot summary of each:
Russia: Thanks
to the increasing number of charter flights, Russia is now the
top generator of arrivals from Europe, up 63.45% to 1,052,361 in
2011. In 2011, Russian tourists spent a total of
US$1,970.84 million (60 billion baht), based on an average length of
stay of 13.29 days and an average daily spend of US$140.92 per
person.
China: In
2011, China was the second largest source of visitors after Malaysia,
with total arrivals of 1,704,800, up 50.57% over 2010. Based on an
average daily spend per person of US$146.63, and average length of
stay of 7.61 days, Chinese visitors generated tourism revenue of
US$1,902.32 million (58 billion baht).
Australia: In
2011, Australian visitors to Thailand totalled 835,719, up 18.89%
over 2010. Based on an average length of stay of 12.78 days and an
average daily spend of US$159.19 per person, Australians generated
US$1,700.27 million (51.8 billion baht) of tourism income.
Malaysia: Malaysia
is Thailand’s largest source of visitor arrivals with a total of
2,492,034 in 2011, up 21.73% over 2010. Based on an average length of
stay of 4.78 days and an average daily spend of US$137.10 per person,
Malaysia generated US$1,633.15 million (49.79 billion baht) in
tourism receipts.
United
Kingdom: The United Kingdom is the second largest generator of
arrivals from Europe with a total of 771,466 visitors in 2011, up
1.48% over 2010. Based on an average daily spend of US$121.84 per
person and an average length of stay of 17.35 days, the UK generated
US$1,630.80 million (49.72 billion baht) in tourism receipts.
Overall,
the figures show that the recent strengthening of the baht
against the US$ is having little impact on expenditure patterns and
Thailand remains good value for money for visitors across
the boar
Over
10 million visited Thailand in H1 of 2012
The
Thai tourism industry continued its strong performance in
the first six months of 2012, with total arrivals of 10,496,789, up
7.60% over the same period of 2011.
The
most important contributor to this growth was arrivals from China
which, for the first time, crossed the one million
arrivals mark in the six-month period to record a total of 1,124,234,
up by a robust 28.87% over January-June 2011.
Overview
East
Asia recorded 5,486,941 arrivals (market share 52.27% of total
arrivals). Europe 2,971,939 (market share 28.31%); The Americas
545,042 (5.19% share); South Asia 632,976 (6.03% share);
Oceania 477,894 (4.55% share); Middle East 296,653 (2.83% share); and
Africa 85,344 (0.81% share).
East
Asia (+5.73%)
•
Japan is the fourth largest source
of visitor arrivals to Thailand with total of 630,058, up 11.47%.
•
Korea is the fifth largest source of
visitor arrivals with total of 540,523, up 4.88%.
•
Arrivals from the neighbouring ASEAN
countries also showed good growth, e.g., Vietnam (+24.96%), Brunei
Darussalam (+20.15%), Cambodia (+12.32%), Myanmar (+12.30%),
Laos (+9.16%), Indonesia (+4.40%), Singapore(+4.53%). Only the
Philippines was down (-3.44%).
Europe(+11.12%)
•
Russia remained ahead of the UK and
Germany as the largest source market from Europe, with total arrivals
of 634,312, up 12.21%.
•
The UK and Germany ranked the second
and third largest sources of visitor arrivals – 433,989 (+1.52%)
and 357,472 (+9.71%), respectively.
•
French visitor arrivals totalled
304,717 (+17.11%).
•
Arrivals from the Nordic countries
of Norway, Sweden and Denmark grew by 17.59%, 16.45% and 14.84%,
respectively.
The
Americas: (+10.58%)
•
The US is the tenth top
source-market of arrivals to Thailand with a total of 379,430
(+8.63%).
•
Canadian visitors grew by 10.62% to
114,678.
•
Brazilian visitors grew by 23.65% to
14,965.
South
Asia (+5.83%)
•
India is the biggest source of
visitors in South Asia and the sixth largest source of
total arrivals. Arrivals were up 6.32% to 504,634 arrivals.