The total expenditure by visitors of all nationalities was up 29.69% over January – June 2014, and matched the 29.54% growth in visitor arrivals in January – June 2015.
Overall, Chinese visitors are now by far the biggest source of both visitors and expenditure, totalling 4 million arrivals in first six months of this year, up 111% over 1.89 million in the same period of 2014, with an expenditure of 190.9 billion Baht, up 138.9% over 79.9 billion Baht in January-June 2014.
Thale Waek (Separated Sea) in Krabi. A TAT Newsroom Photo Contest 2014 entry, pictured by Worachot Puttasri.
The sharp rise in visitor expenditure is playing a major role in bolstering the Thai economy, supporting jobs and income distribution nationwide. It also fits in with the new strategic focus of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to make visitor expenditure the dominant criteria of measuring the success of the tourism industry, as against visitor arrivals.
Although the January – June 2015 figures are preliminary, they provide a good indication of the resurgence in tourism following the overall decline in visitor arrivals and expenditure in 2014. The Royal Thai Government now recognises tourism as a major driving force in the national economy.