Visitor arrivals to Thailand from January to April 2016, totalled 11,682,144, a growth of 14.12% over the same period of 2015.
Growing Transportation Linkages Between CLMVT Countries Bangkok, Thailand, has been selected as the host venue for the prestigious 2017 WTTC Global Summit, which is scheduled to be held on 26-27 April, 2017. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) announced its decision at the closing speech of the 16th WTTC Global Summit in Dallas, Texas. Mr David Scowsill, President and CEO of WTTC said, “The WTTC Global Summit is the most influential travel and tourism event of the year, bringing together hundreds of leaders from public sector organisations and private sector companies to discuss and tackle the most important issues in our sector.
Travel and tourism is one of the most important generators of jobs and wealth in the world, contributing to over US $7.2 trillion in GDP to the world economy and supporting 284 million jobs, which is 1 in 11 jobs on the planet.” Mr Scowsill continued, “Thailand is an extremely well established travel and tourism economy. Despite challenges, the sector grew by a stunning 18.4% in 2015, contributing nearly 21% to the country’s GDP (USD$ 81.6 billion or THB 2.8 trillion) and supported 5.9 million jobs, which is 15.4% of the total employment.
I am delighted that Bangkok will host the 2017 Global Summit, which will highlight the Thai government’s great efforts in supporting travel and tourism across the country.” H.E. Mrs. Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, Thailand’s Minister of Tourism and Sports said, “We are excited and honoured to host next year’s WTTC Global Summit, which is a great opportunity to showcase Bangkok as an important meeting place for gathering the world’s top travel and tourism executives. “Being selected by the World Travel and Tourism Council to host the Summit acknowledges the commitment the Thai government has to the expansion of the travel and tourism sector in the country,” she added. Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said, “Holding the Summit in Bangkok is recognition of the city’s importance as an international hub, serving a large number of international visitors through Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
We are looking forward to welcoming everyone in Bangkok next year to experience the beauty of our country,” the Governor concluded. For more information about WTTC, please contact : International Public Relations Division Tourism Authority of Thailand Website: www.tatnews.org This is based on a 27.35% increase in arrivals from China (now by far the largest source of visitors), a resumption of growth from Russia and a strong performance by the ASEAN countries, especially Thailand’s neighbouring countries of Cambodia, Lao PDR. and Myanmar.
Mr Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said, “Steady growing visitor arrivals are always good news. Thanks to the support and cooperation of all those who work in travel and tourism, the Royal Thai Government and all the private sector associations, we can prove that our vibrant industry is doing more than its fair share to ensure job creation, income distribution and economic well-being nationwide.”
Visitors from East Asia totalled 7,630,739 (+17.26%), Europe 2,526,784 (+8.89%), the Americas 502,627 (+13.76%), South Asia 459,157 (+8.72%), Middle East 226,973 (+11.36%) and Africa 51,566 (+6.44%). The only market reporting a slowdown was Oceania (Australia & New Zealand): 284,298 (-2.71%), In 2015, the Thai tourism industry hit the highest record in its history, both in terms of revenue and number of tourist arrivals. Thailand received total tourism revenue of 1.44 trillion THB (42 billion US dollars) from foreign visitors, up 23 percent over 2014. This was based on total visitor arrivals of 29.8 million, up 20 percent.
This year TAT will be focusing less on the number of visitor arrivals and more on attracting quality tourists, targeting tourism revenue with a growth of 8% or around 2.41 trillion THB (68 billion USD). Of that total, 1.56 trillion Baht (44 billion US dollars) will come from international markets and 850 billion THB (24 billion US dollars) from domestic travel. Contact Information International Public Relations Division Tourism Authority of Thailand. Website: www.tatnews.org
