Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports has revealed that the number of foreign visitors in the first seven months of the year has grown by 11% from last year, while the number Chinese tourists is beginning to recover following the fatal Phuket boat accident last month.

Permanent Secretary for Tourism and Sports, Pongpanu Svetarundra, said that arrivals in July totaled more than 3.1 million. Most tourists originated in East Asia, followed by Europe, South Asia and the Americas. Compared to the same period of last year, the number of tourists grew by 2.85%. The top five countries of origin were China, Malaysia, South Korea, Laos and India, indicating recovering sentiment among Chinese tourists after a fatal boat accident in Phuket the same month.

Travel spending in July generated more than 1.6 billion baht in revenue, an increase of 6.38% from the same period last year. In the first seven months of this year, the total number of tourists topped 22 million, an increase of 11% from the same period last year, and generated over 1.1 trillion baht in revenue, an increase of 14.44% over the same period of last year.

As for domestic tourism in June, up to 12.67 million Thais traveled around the country, an increase of 3.5% percent from the same period last year. Domestic spending is expected to generate up to 77 billion baht in revenue, 7% higher than last year. Despite the positive growth, issues that need to be closely monitored include global trade disputes and rising benchmark interest rates in the United States.

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