Illustrative image (Photo: The Nation)The centre’s estimates are based on the 6.4 million foreign arrivals recordedin the first two months of this year, a year-on-year rise of 50%.
The centre predicted that foreign arrivals by the end of thefirst quarter may reach 9.32 million, up 42.7% year-on-year, and showing apositive sign for the rest of the year.
KResearch attributed the jump in foreign arrivals toThailand’s improving economy and the government’s short- and long-term tourismpromotion policies.
The most outstanding one is the visa-free policy that hasbeen implemented since September last year beginning with a five-month visaexemption for visitors from China and Kazakhstan, followed by India and Taiwan (China)in November, the centre said.
From March 1, Thailand and China have mutually waived visarequirements for their citizens permanently.
Other supporting factors include airlines opening new routesto Thailand as well as increasing flight frequency. Data from the CivilAviation Authority of Thailand indicates that Thailand enjoyed 34% moreinternational flights in January-February than the same period last year, oraround 68,000 flights, which are about 78% of those recorded in the same periodof 2019.
The centre expected to see more flight routes from countrieslike China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, and Scandinavian countries throughoutthe year from both normal and low-cost airlines.
KResearch’s estimates are, however, lower than those of theTourism and Sports Ministry, which has predicted around 40 million foreignarrivals in 2024, generating around 2.3 trillion THB (65 billion USD) intourism revenue./.
VNA
