Southeast Asia’s second most visited country receives 25 million tourists in year’s first 10 months

China remained the top inbound market with 4.19 million visitors, followed by Malaysia (3.16 million), India (1.88 million), Russia (1.37 million), and South Korea (912,597).

Although the arrival number was 4.43% below last year’s for the same period, there are strong signs of recovery.

During the week from Oct. 18-24, arrivals rose 2.99% from the previous week to nearly 502,000.

The tourism minister said this growth was largely propelled by long-haul markets, arrivals from where increased by 12.03% during the week to nearly 200,000.

A short school holiday across Europe and the Americas, and the onset of Thailand’s cooler travel season caused the increase.

Among long-haul markets, Russian visitor numbers jumped by 25.45% and Americans by 11.52%.

The holidays coinciding with the Hindu festival of Navaratri helped increase Indian arrivals by 18.09%.

But short-haul traffic dipped by 2.24% to 302,011 travelers, largely weighed down by a 24.17% drop in Chinese arrivals.

According to The Nationthis downturn stems from an Oct. 16 safety advisory issued by the Chinese embassy regarding scams near the Thailand–Myanmar border, which triggered widespread tour cancelations and sent group bookings tumbling by over 30% year-on-year.

Nevertheless, steady inflows from other regional neighbors helped cushion the blow somewhat.

Malaysia led with 62,724 weekly visitors, followed by China (49,494), India (48,089), Russia (34,986), and the United States (20,167).

Tourism officials expect momentum to build further as winter tourism kicks into high gear.

To accommodate growing demand, direct air links from India are being expanded, including new routes connecting Gaya and Guwahati with Don Mueang and additional services from Kochi and Visakhapatnam to Suvarnabhumi Airport.

Thailand received over 32 million foreign tourists last year, becoming the second most visted country in Southeast Asia after Malaysia (42 million).