Int'l tourist arrivals in Thailand to exceed 26m in 2013

BANGKOK, September 26 (TNA) - The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) reports that the number of international visitors to the country will exceed 26 million this year, with those from China being the lion's share. TCT President Piyaman Tejapaibul told journalists on Wednesday that Thailand's travel agent sentiment index peaked in the third quarter of this year, compared with indices in the same quarter of the past three years. Piyaman said that the fourth quarter of this year should be the first time for the number of foreign tourists in Thailand to exceed 7 million in a quarter. Throughout this year, the TCT chief acknowledged, Thailand should welcome 26.27 million international visitors, a 17.86 per cent year-on-year increase, with Chinese people forming the lion's share. In the first eight months of this year, as many as 3.2 million Chinese travelers had visited Thailand, earning the country about 130 billion baht tourism-related revenues. The TCT chief projected that the number of Chinese visitors to Thailand should exceed 4 million throughout this year, cautioning, however, that China's new tourism law, which will take effect on October 1, 2013, is a matter of concerns, as it may cut the number of Chinese tourist arrivals in Thailand by 35-40 per cent initially. The TCT president mentioned that the “Shopping Paradise” initiative of the Thai government is interesting with regard to the considerable spending of Chinese tourists, recommending that the Thai government further boost tourists' conveniences, including transport and taxi services, promote outstanding products and product deliveries at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport to increase the proportion of Chinese tourists' shopping expenses from 29 per cent of their total spending in Thailand. At present, Chinese tourists' shopping money in Singapore accounts for 52 per cent of their total spending on the island country. (TNA)