From January to March, Thailand welcomed about 1.75 million visitors from China, the largest source of tourists to the Southeast Asian country, followed by 1.16 million visitors from Malaysia and 622,813 visitors from Russia, according to data from Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
Thailand welcomed more than 9.37 million foreign tourists in the first three months of 2024, a 44 percent increase from the previous year, on track to meet the year-end target of 35 million foreign arrivals, official data showed.
The growing number of incoming tourists is supported by the government’s visa waiver scheme, including the mutual visa waiver agreement between Thailand and China, from March 1, which helps boost confidence in travel between the two countries, the ministry said in a statement.
In 2019, before the pandemic, Chinese tourists accounted for about 28 percent of nearly 40 million foreign tourists to Thailand. Tourism, the main driver of the country’s economic growth, accounts for about 12 percent of its GDP.