The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) anticipates that Chinese vacationers could reach a million arrivals per thirty days by October, just like figures from 2019. An increase in flight capacity through the high season and resolving e-visa issues are factors expected to contribute to this growth.
Chuwit Sirivejkul, TAT’s Regional Director of Marketing for East Asia, expressed confidence that Chinese vacationer arrivals are set for a rise, surpassing five million visitors in 2021 and producing 446 billion baht. Flight slots between Thailand and China provide six million available seats from April to October – equating to a median of 600,000 to 900,000 seats per thirty days. October is projected to have 840,260 obtainable seats.
Approximately 10,000 Chinese vacationers are visiting Thailand day by day, with the number rising to 18,000 to 20,000 in the course of the Labour Day holiday in early May. To facilitate the growing demand, Airports of Thailand intends to broaden ground handling services for Thai Airways International and Bangkok Flight Services, the two current providers.
Chuwit anticipates a considerable number of Chinese tourists within the latter half of the 12 months, notably during June to August when household trips are frequent as a end result of college holidays. Business teams are additionally expected to visit in September, whereas China’s National Day, a seven-day vacation in October, will doubtless trigger elevated travel demand and more chartered flights.
Chuwit famous that discussions with the Foreign Affairs Ministry regarding restricted visa software capacity for Chinese tour teams are scheduled for next week. The e-visa utility system for these groups can at present process 84,000 functions per month.
Despite unfavorable comments relating to safety in Thailand circulating on Chinese social media recently, Chuwit believes any short-term impression on secondary Thai tourist cities wouldn’t affect total growth this 12 months. To boost confidence in Thailand’s tourism security, the TAT intends to invite Chinese influencers to the nation in the direction of the top of May, with a press convention co-hosted by the Royal Thai Police.
While Hidden seems promising, Chuwit acknowledged challenges embody a scarcity of Chinese-speaking workers and monetary tech growth to cater to Chinese spending habits. In the first four months of 2021, among the 8.5 million international tourists recorded, Chinese guests numbered 843,920..