The Ministry of Tourism and Sports reported on Thursday there were approximately 16.5 million tourist arrivals so far this year (as of August 13), which generated a total of THB680 billion in revenue. Tourists from Malaysia accounted for 2.58 million (15.6%) of all international visitors, followed by those from China (2.03 million; 12.3%), Korea (0.98 million; 5.9%), India (0.95 million; 5.8%), and Russia (0.88 million; 5.2%).
Last week (August 7-13), there were 577,000 visitors. Malaysians, Koreans, Indians, and Japanese rounded out the top five, with Chinese coming in first, according to the tourism and sports ministers.
The brokerage firm CGS-CIMB Securities has a bullish outlook on Thailand’s tourism industry, projecting that 28 million international visitors will arrive in the country this year.
As for August, the brokerage anticipates that Thailand will receive approximately 2.4 million tourists, which would be roughly two-thirds of August 2019’s inflow.
The ministry reported earlier this month that the number of tourists visiting Thailand in the first seven months of this year reached 15 million, generating more than one trillion baht.
From January to July, Thailand’s tourist industry brought in roughly 1.085 trillion baht, with 638 billion baht of that coming from the spending of international visitors, the official data showed.
The ministry expects the number of incoming tourists to reach the target of not less than 25 million by the end of the year, thanks to the robust recovery momentum.
CGS-CIMB suggested “BUY” on Minor International Pcl. (SET: MINT) and Airports of Thailand Pcl. (SET: AOT) as the global travel recovery continued with stronger demand in the second half of the year ahead of the long holiday season.
