Fewer tourists visit Thailand but revenue up****Karnjana Karnjanatawe
Bangkok Post dd. 3 januari 2006
Foreign tourist arrivals dropped 1.8 percent from last year to 11.44 million in the wake of the tsunami, unrest in the South, a series of earthquakes and spiralling oil prices, according to the Kasikorn Research Centre (KResearch).
Although the number of tourists visiting Thailand was down, revenue generated by tourism and related industries increased 4.1 percent to around 400 billion baht from 384 million baht in 2004.
“Tourist arrivals saw a serious setback in January. This was particularly true in the short-haul tourist market of East Asia that was dealt a severe blow by the tsunami tragedy,” stated the report.
However, the situation in other tourist markets improved in the following months, thanks to cooperation between private and public agencies that jointly launched activities to attract overseas visitors.
Next year, KResearch expects the overseas tourist market to grow on the back of economic expansion in countries of East Asia, especially Japan and China.
Foreign tourist arrivals in the year 2006 are expected to top 12.4 million, a year-on-year increase of eight percent, and generate some 468 billion baht in tourism revenue.