Thailand travel steady in June

BANGKOK, 11 July 2012: Thailand welcomed 1,624,859 visitors representing a gain of 9.44% in June according to the latest data from the Tourism Department of Ministry of Tourism and Sports released yesterday.

Malaysia was the top supplier in June despite a  registering decline in that market.

Security issues, following a car bomb attack in Hat Yai, 31 March, were still impacting on travel from Malaysia. The percentage decrease was 22.18% in April, 16.42% in May and 11.43% in June.

But 199,354 visits in June were enough to place Malaysia at the top replacing China, which was top of the list two months in a row.

Arrivals from China continued grow at a remarkable 45.32% supplying 181,073 tourists.

Over a six-month period, China remained the top supplier at 1,124,324 visits, up 28.87%. Meanwhile, Malaysia supplied 1,115,721 visits down 8.53%.

From January to June, overall visits reached 10,496,789, up 7.6%.

June’s performance showed improvements in all regions. The largest market East Asia (60.09% share) that includes ASEAN posted a steady growth of 9.11% supplying 976,453 tourists.

Within the region, drops were monitored in Malaysia (-11.43%, 199,354); Indonesia (-4.3%, 37,990); Hong Kong (-5.75%, 42,324) and Taiwan (-24.16%, 35,693).

Besides China, there were significant increases from neighbouring countries: 43.29% from Vietnam (73,031); Myanmar, 26.61% (11,449) and Cambodia, 20.85% (25,342). Brunei’s arrivals skyrocketed at 54.57%, but the numbers were still very small (1,269).

Arrivals from Japan continue to improve. The country suffered a massive tsunami and earthquake in March 2011 stalling outbound travel for months. In June, there was an 18.35% increase in travel to Thailand.

In Europe and the Americas, all identified countries recorded growth with the exceptions of Denmark (-5.3%); Finland (-5.06%); Ireland (-2.38%); and Sweden (-3.72%). In Europe, Russia posted the strongest growth, 48.77% (55,625), while in the Americas, arrivals from Argentina surged 54.35% (923).

Arrivals from South Asia, Middle East and Oceania improved slightly at a similar pace: 6.864% (124,310); 6.68% (68,047) and 6.69% (83,394) respectively.

Arrivals from Africa flourished at 21.17% (13,678).

In June, Suvarnabhumi Airport welcomed 1,624,859 tourists (+9.44%) followed by Phuket Airport, 145,578 (+7.67%); Sadao Checkpoint on the Thai-Malaysian border in Songkhla province, 105,324 (-16.79%); First Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge checkpoint in Nong Khai province, 87,148 (+29.11%) and the Aranyaprathet checkpoint on the Thai-Cambodian border in Srakaew province, 33,254 (-23.9%).

As for the Thai outbound travel market, the Immigration Bureau reported 548,225 trips in June, a slight increase of 5.62%, but that was due to the Visakha Buja holiday falling in June rather than May, giving the month a long weekend.

There were 229,487 (-12.92%) outbound trips through Suvarnabhumi Airport followed by the Aranyaprathet checkpoint, 108,912 (+6.65%); Sadao checkpoint, 47,540 (-13.36%); First Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge checkpoint, 26,980 (-10.92%) and Sungai Kolok on Thai-Malaysian border in Narathiwat, 28,720 (+43.12%).

The data was collected by the Immigration Bureau from all checkpoints – air, land and sea and is preliminary data subject to review.

Sourced: ttrweekly