Foreign arrivals up 8.66%

The number of international tourist arrivals in Thailand during the first eight months of this year increased 8.66% to 14.34 million, showing a full recovery of the Thai tourism industry, according to the Department of Tourism.

The momentum of rising arrivals will continue until the end of this year, a report from the DOT said.

In August, arrivals rose by 11.54% to 1.92 million. The sharp rise was fuelled by arrivals from the Middle East, up by 51.39%, Oceania (26.13%), South Asia (21%), Africa (17%), Eastern Asia (11.74%), America 9.31% and Europe (0.05%).

Key emerging markets still showed cause for optimism. Tourists from China surged by 43.7% to 193,881, India up14.67% to 76,182 and Russia up 22.15% to 44,540. Meanwhile tourist arrivals from the United Kingdom dropped by 7.26% to 73,031 and France fell by by 4.76% to 49,774.