Bangkok, 5 December, 2016 – Thailand has welcomed its 30 millionth visitor for 2016, breaking tourist records. The “Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor – The Amazing, Smashing Success” was Ms. Huang Junyi who flew in to Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport from Guangzhou, China on the auspicious date of 5 December, 2016.
Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) said, “This has been an amazing year for tourism in amazing Thailand as shown by the huge numbers of visitors.
“We have reached 30 million and the high season has only just kicked off. We know that more people will be coming to enjoy the cool weather and holiday festivities.
“Thailand has so much to offer the world and we know that the Thai people make every visitor feel as welcome as we made Ms. Huang Junyi feel today.”
Ms. Huang Junyi,“Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor – The Amazing, Smashing Success”, was greeted at Suvarnabhumi Airport with a fantastic welcoming ceremony co-hosted by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Thai Airways International and True Corporation.
Ms. Huang’s prize will be two economy-class return tickets to Thailand from her original destination, which are valid for a year.
She will also be given a voucher for a five-night stay in one of Thailand’s luxury hotels in Bangkok, Pattaya or Hua Hin as well as a mobile phone with a 4G sim card and seven days of Internet usage and a certificate naming her as “Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor – The Amazing, Smashing Success” so that she can remember this day forever.
The lucky 30 millionth visitor was also given an exclusive limousine transfer from the Airport to her accommodation in Bangkok.
The “Thailand’s Luckiest Visitor” campaign was launched in 2015 to welcome and reward every millionth visitor to Thailand from June to December.
The campaign was a great success and garnered interest from the public and media organisations across the world, boosting Thailand’s tourism sector and brand image. It has been brought back in 2016 to welcome the 30th and 31st million visitors and will continue till the end of 2016.
In 2016, Thailand is projecting total international tourism revenue of 1.62 trillion Baht (USD 46 billion), representing a year-on-year increase of 11.68% over 2015.
To boost tourism numbers, various initiatives have been put in place to encourage tourists to visit and spend. This includes the waiver of tourist visa fees for visitors from 19 countries from 1 December, 2016, to 28 February, 2017, and the price of visas issued on arrival will be halved. To encourage more domestic travel, a long New Year holiday of four days including 31 December, 2016, and 1 to 3 January, 2017, has been confirmed.
