Thailand welcomed 26.9 million foreign tourists from Jan 1 to Oct 11 this year, up 5.6% from the previous year.
Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, Minister of Tourism and Sports, said 26.9 million people visited Thailand during the period, up 5.6% from the same period last year. They brought in 1.37 trillion baht in tourism revenue, a 7.6% increase year-on-year.
Numbering 7.63 million, the Chinese remained the largest group. During China’s National Day Golden Week holidays from Oct 1-7, 227,648 travelled to Thailand.
Ctrip.com International, one of largest travel companies in China, said more than 6.15 million Chinese travelled abroad during the Golden Week. Their top destinations were Thailand, Japan, Singapore, the US and Vietnam.
In terms of sports, Mrs Kobkarn said Asean tourism ministers had agreed to Southeast Asia's bid to host the 2034 Fifa World Cup at a regional ministerial meeting in Myanmar this week.
They also discussed further sports collaboration with Japan, which will host the 2020 Olympic Games.
