ROUBLE trouble from major source market Russia was unable to blot out Thailand’s visitor arrival progress in January this year, with almost all source markets showing recovery, especially Asia.
Total arrivals surged 16.3 per cent to reach 2.7 million arrivals in January 2015 alone compared with the same time last year, according to figures from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
With the exception of Europe and Oceania, all regions showed improvement, with East Asia hogging the biggest market share of 58.2 per cent.
Arrivals from China and Malaysia grew at breakneck speeds of 57 per cent and 92.6 per cent year-on-year respectively with 560,399 and 279,517 visitors. South Korea was the third biggest source market and grew 13.1 per cent in January, while Japan came fifth with a five per cent increase in tourists.
Neighbouring South-east Asian countries each witnessed double-digit growth in outbound travel to Thailand, an indicator of the restoration of trust in Thailand.
Traveller numbers from the Americas was up 1.4 per cent; South Asia did well at 19.1 per cent; the Middle East powered through January with 31.1 per cent; and Africa sent 0.8 per cent more tourists.
However, Europe and Oceania both registered a marked decline. While most European markets recorded weak but positive increases, juggernaut Russia’s 46 per cent year-on-year tumble offset all gains for a 14.3 per cent drop in European arrivals overall.
Russia fielded 145,605 travellers this January, almost half of last year’s 269,479 visitors, but remains Thailand’s fourth largest market.
Over in Oceania, arrivals fell 6.4 per cent as Australian visitors declined 7.1 per cent to 71,904 and New Zealand, 3.5 per cent to 8,647.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is aiming for 28 million international visitors this year and 1.4 trillion baht (US$42.9 billion) in tourism earnings.
