Thailand expected to welcome 29.5m int'l visitors in 2015

BANGKOK, November 5 (TNA) - The Ministry of Tourism and Sports expects that Thailand should welcome a total of about 29.5 million international visitors this year, earning the Kingdom about 1.4 trillion baht of tourism-related revenues. Deputy Permanent Secretary for Tourism and Sports Wannasiri Morakul, who is also Acting Director-General of the ministry's Department of Tourism, told journalists on Wednesday that the number of foreign tourist arrivals in Thailand this year, if meeting the target, would exceed the earlier anticipation of 28.8 million by about 700,000. Wannasiri said from January to October 2015, Thailand earned tourism-related revenues worth about 1.16 trillion baht, while those during the remaining period of the year should stand around another 0.24 trillion baht, totally earning the Kingdom of up to 1.4 trillion baht of tourism-related revenues in 2015, the highest in eight years. Wannasiri attributed the higher international tourist arrivals in Thailand this year to tourism promotion campaigns by the government, including those for "12 provinces should not miss" and serious solutions to tourism-related crimes, such as violent attacks, zero-dollar tour packages and illegal tour guide services. According to the senior official, Thailand welcomed about 24.36 million of international visitors during the first 10 months of this year, a 24.75 per cent year-on-year increase, with those from China becoming the biggest group of foreign visitors, followed by those from Japan and Malaysia. In 2016, the senior official assessed, Thailand is likely to earn about 2.3 trillion baht of tourism-related revenues, 1.5 trillion baht of which should be from foreign visitors and 800 billion baht from local tourists. The senior official noted that the Ministry of Tourism and Sports has worked out strategies, aimed to maintain domestic tourism growth from 2015 to 2017. (TNA)