Bangkok, 28 August, 2018 – Thailand welcomed visitor arrivals of 22,657,730 in January-July 2018, up by 11% over the same period of 2017, according to preliminary figures tabulated by the Ministry of Tourism and Sports. Estimated visitor expenditure also rose significantly, up 14.44 percent to 1.18 trillion Baht.
The top ten source markets of visitors to Thailand in January – July 2018:
| Rank | Country | No. of Visitors | % Change |
| 1 | China | 6,860,924 | 21.44 |
| 2 | Malaysia | 2,113,875 | 6.80 |
| 3 | Korea | 1,035,057 | 5.82 |
| 4 | Lao PDR. | 991,679 | 9.31 |
| 5 | India | 919,130 | 13.24 |
| 6 | Japan | 908,059 | 5.62 |
| 7 | Russia | 900,712 | 16.24 |
| 8 | USA | 656,327 | 5.82 |
| 9 | Vietnam | 630,526 | 7.83 |
| 10 | Singapore | 579,677 | 2.97 |
Remark: Preliminary figures
Source: Ministry of Tourism and Sports
Tourism Authority of Thailand Governor Mr. Yuthasak Supasorn commented, “This strong growth is very encouraging in terms of numbers, but even are more important are some of the emerging new trends; such as, the 23.3% increase in visitor arrivals by sea (July 2018), and the higher hotel occupancies being experienced by emerging secondary provinces; such as, Rayong, Suphan Buri, Chainat, Nakhon Pathom, Ang Thong and Phatthalung.”
Some key performance indicators of international arrivals in January-July 2018 were as follows:
East Asian generated 15.45 million visitors, or 68% of the total. China topped the list with 6,860,924 million arrivals. ASEAN countries generated over 5.62 million arrivals, with growth from the Philippines (+9.93%), Lao PDR. (+9.31%), Cambodia (+8.43%), Vietnam (+7.83%), Indonesia (+7.67%), Malaysia (+6.80%), Singapore (+2.97%), except Myanmar (-0.36%) and Brunei (-11.04%).
Arrivals from Europe were up 6.37% to 4.05 million. Russia is the largest source market out of Europe, with arrivals of 900,712, up by 16.24%.
Arrivals from the Americas were up 2.99% to 948,872. The main market, USA, was up by 5.82% to 656,327.
Arrivals from South Asia grew by 12.11% to 1,133,057. India topped the list with arrivals of 919,130, up 13.24%.
Arrivals from Oceania declined by 1.49% to 532,296 visitors, largely due to lower arrivals from both Australia (-1.82%) and New Zealand (+0.54%).
Arrivals from the Middle East declined by 4.56% to 432,054.
Arrivals from Africa grew by 7.48% to 106,394. The top performing market was South Africa, up by 14.56% to 54,651.
In terms of revenue earnings, this is the breakdown of the estimated expenditure by the top ten performing markets:
| Rank | Country | Tourism Revenue (Million Baht) | % Change |
| 1 | China | 371,345.82 | 27.86 |
| 2 | Russia | 72,010.89 | 17.75 |
| 3 | Malaysia | 58,305.79 | 11.21 |
| 4 | USA | 49,681.88 | 7.96 |
| 5 | UK | 46,529.81 | 3.28 |
| 6 | Korea | 46,162.51 | 9.27 |
| 7 | India | 41,771.84 | 15.39 |
| 8 | Japan | 38,194.33 | 7.33 |
| 9 | Australia | 37,498.92 | 0.67 |
| 10 | Germany | 34,784.39 | 8.60 |
Remark: Preliminary figures
Source: Ministry of Tourism and Sports
