2012 Thai Tourism Statistics

[Guest fountainhall]

Some interesting figures from the Tourism Department illustrating how the demographics of the inbound tourist market are changing very rapidly.

 

The nationality of the main tourist groups are to be found in this chart -

 

 

No surprise that China and Russia are at and near the top of the list. Malaysia is there because of a lot of cross-border traffic. I suspect that's also the reason Laos is also up there. Interesting, though, that the totals of five main European countries listed barely reach the numbers of Chinese and Japanese.

 

Another chart of interest is the relative growth in inbound tourism over a ten year period - 

 

 

Not surprisingly since they will have started from low bases, Russia, India and China are in the top 6. The more mature western markets of the UK, USA, Germany and France show between just 24% and 112% increases over the ten year period. Perhaps this is partly a result of currency values where the US$, £ and € now buy a lot less than they did in 2002.

 

A third graph is of interest as it could give an indication of the likely increases to come over the next few years.

 

 

Not unnaturally, the most populous nations are at the foot. The trend for more Indians and Chinese is therefore almost certainly going to continue, as will Russians.  Once the western economies turn upwards, though, there is still plenty of room for more western tourists to visit, but - and here's the catch - always assuming that exchange rate is reasonable. 

 

http://www.thaiwebsites.com/tourists-nationalities-Thailand.asp?goback=.gde_54129_member_234336349

[ChristianPFC]

Two statistics are missing: how long they stay and how much they spend.

 

A statistic how much a tourist from a country spends per day, how long they stay and how much all tourists from that country spend together would be very interesting.

 

There is a large difference between a Malaysian who hops over the border for a day or a European/Australian/North American who comes for a two or three week holiday.

[Guest fountainhall]

I quite agree with Christian's points, but cannot yet find them on the various sites providing statistics. I do remember reading somewhere recently that the Chinese spend more than any other grouping on duty free goods.I imagine that goes for Thailand as many other places - if you see the hoards who pack into King Power's city store daily.

[Guest fountainhall]

Finally found a site that gives some of the statistics Christian was seeking, although the period is for 2 years earlier. Perhaps it will give an indication, though. The period generally covers January – September 2010.

Germany
612,620 arrivals – average stay 15.56 days – average daily spend US$101.45 per person. 92% were individual travellers.

United Kingdom
818,303 arrivals – average stay 16.40 days – average daily spend US$108.37 per person. 94.44% were individual travellers.

Russia
611,019 arrivals – average stay 12.48 days – average daily spend US$122.14 per person. 56% were individual travellers.

France
458,292 arrivals – average stay 15.29 days – average daily spend US$102.39 per person. 90% were individual travellers.

Sweden
316,406 arrivals – average stay 18.60 days – average daily spend US$102.58 per person. 93% were individual travellers.

http://www.tatnews.org/media-releases-2011/item/192-market-profile-for-european-market

Two things surprise me about these figures –

a. the average stay is pretty long. When I did some work for the Hong Kong Tourist Association in the late 1990s, the average stay was around 3 days and much of the HKTA’s activity was trying to get the average stay up to 4 days.

b. it would seem unlikely that most of these tourists involved in the survey above spent much if any time in neighbouring countries.

Another site gives more recent information about Chinese visitors. This suggests that the average stay is one week and the average spend is between Bt. 30,000 and 40,000 per person per trip. A mentioned in an earlier thread, luxury items make up much of this total spend.
 

“Most of them are avid shoppers, snatching up brand name products at duty-free shops and stores around Bangkok’s Ratchaprasong Intersection.”

Currently, Chinese tourist shopping expenditure for duty-free products has increase to Bt4,000 to Bt5,000 per head against Bt800 per person five years ago.

http://www.ttrweekly.com/site/2013/02/chinese-spend-more-in-thailand/