Foreign tourist arrivals in Thailand expected to rise by 5% during New Year holidays

SAMUT PRAKARN, THAILAND, December 27 (TNA) - The state-run Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has assessed that the number of foreign tourist arrivals in the Kingdom should increase by 5 per cent year-on-year during upcoming New Year holidays, from December 31 to January 3. Speaking to journalists at Thailand's main Suvarnabhumi International Airport, TAT Director for North American Jittima Sukpalin made the assessment on Tuesday, saying that the Thai Kingdom should welcome about 375,000 foreign tourists during the four-day festivity alone, earning the country over 5.5 billion baht tourism-related revenues. Jittima cited such positive factor to support her projection that the number of charter flights to Thailand has stood as high as 65 with a total of 16,389 seats, 39 of which to Bangkok, 23 to Phuket and 3 to Chiang Mai, from 11 countries globally, namely China, Russia, Sweden, and Japan. Besides, advance air ticket reservations for long-haul flights from Europe, America, and Oceanic countries to Thailand have increased by 3 per cent. According to the TAT director, there have also been more inter-provincial travels among Thai people, thanks to the government's tax incentives to boost domestic tourism. The TAT senior official acknowledged that hotel bookings in resort Thai provinces, charmed with the current cold winter weather, have already been fully booked until February 2017. (TNA)