Chinese elevate to status of ‘quality tourists’

Bangkok:- Chinese tourists have elevated their status to quality tourists with the highest average daily spending in Thailand in the first quarter of this year, Tourism Minister Korbkarn Wattanavrangkul said.

Korbkarn said each Chinese tourist averagely spent Bt6,346 per day during the stay in Thailand. The minister said the median of average daily spending of tourists from countries in the first quarter was Bt4,950.

She added that Singapore tourists came second with an average daily spending of Bt6,284 per day, followed by Malaysians of Bt6,020, Indians Bt5,952 and Australians Bt5,842.

“Thailand is a top choice of destinations of Chinese tourists and they came with purchasing power, generating a lot of income for Thais,” Korbkarn said.

“From January to April, they generated income of Bt122.71 billion of income for Thailand, which was an increase of 110 per cent from the same period of last year.”

She said about 2.69 Chinese tourists visited Thailand in the first quarter and 1.2 million of them or more than two fifths came with tourism companies.

The minister said people in the North of Thailand have already changed their attitude towards Chinese tourists because they like to shop. “Local residents also advised the Chinese tourists what can be done and what should be avoided,” Korbkarn added.

The minister added that some 11.95 million foreign tourists visited Thailand from January 1 to May 25, generating income of Bt578.94 billion for the country.

Korbkarn said it is expected that some 28.5 million foreign tourists will visit the kingdom this year and they could generate some Bt1.4 trillion of income for the country.

2015-05-