Foreigners travelling to Thailand with members of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta) totalled 1.46 million from Jan 1 to March 20, a 16% gain from the same period last year, says Atta president Vichit Prakobkosol.
China remained the top source market with 870,720 visitors, a 29% rise, followed by South Korea with 72,546 (+8.7%), India with 55,618 (+18.3%) and Japan with 55,078, (+17.7%). Tourists from Russia recorded a 42% drop to 46,797 visitors.
During March 1-20, 384,427 tourists travelled with Atta members, an 8.8% increase year-on-year. China contributed nearly 60% of total arrivals.
Last year, more than 8 million foreigners travelled with Atta members.
Meanwhile, Supawan Tanomkieatipume, president of the Thai Hotels Association (THA), said that despite the tourism boom, many hotel operators are unable to increase room rates because of tough competition and a glut of rooms.
"Hotel operators said if they increase room rates they will not get customers," she said. "They are keeping their attractive prices."
The average room rate for a five-star hotel in Bangkok is 4,720 baht, while it is 2,066 baht for a small hotel, 1,800 baht for a hotel in Hua Hin, 2,600 baht for Pattaya, 1,120 baht for the upper Northeast and 5,800 for Phuket.
This year, hotels in Hua Hin and Cha-am have experienced significant drops as many Westerners shifted to Phuket. Average occupancy rates for the two resort towns fell from 80-90% to 60-65% during the first quarter this year, Ms Supawan said.
Room rates and occupancy at hotels in the North and the Northeast remained unchanged this year, she said.
