Thailand’s tourism receipts up 31% to $ 25.4 b in 2011

According to the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Thailand recorded a 31% y-o-y increase in tourism receipts in 2011.

The total earnings of 776 billion Baht (US$25.45 billion) were also well above the original target of 716 billion Baht (US$ 23 billion).

The growth in total number of visitors is being matched by increased average length of stay and average daily expenditure, further underscoring the role of tourism as one of the most important economic sectors and contributor to job creation and nationwide income distribution.

Thailand recorded 19.23 million international visitors in 2011, up by 20.67% over 2010. With an average length of stay of 9.64 days, and an average daily spend of 4,187.12 baht (US$137) per person, the Thai tourism industry generated 776 billion baht in earnings.

By regions, the East Asia (+39.40%) recorded the largest increase in receipts in 2011, followed by South Asia (+33.27%), Oceania (+32.84%), Africa (+32.21%), Europe (+26.20%), the Americas (+20.36%) and Middle East (+19.79%).

Europe holds the largest share of international tourism receipts in absolute numbers (38.23%), reaching US$ 9,733 million in 2011, followed by East Asia (37.33% or US$ 9,505 million), the Americas (7.10 or US$ 1,807 million), Oceania (7.30% or US$ 1,858 million), South Asia (4.85% or US$ 1,235 million), the Middle East (4.29%) earned US$ 1,093 million and Africa (0.88%) US$ 224 million.

According to the per capita daily spending, the top 10 ranked tourism spenders in 2011 were UAE (US$175.21), Saudi Arabia (US$166.92), South Africa (US$164.10), India (US$161.78), Hong Kong (US$161.63), Singapore (US$160.96), Kuwait (US$159.66), Australia (US$159.19), Brunei Darussalam (US$155.30) and Korea (US$153.17).

Amongst Asian visitors, the lowest daily spend is by Laotians (US$101.99) and amongst Europeans, the lowest daily spend is by Germans (US$115.46).

In terms of total expenditure by all visitors, the top five nationalities were from Russia, China, Australia, Malaysia, and United Kingdom.

Overall, the figures show that the recent strengthening of the Baht against the US$ is having little impact on expenditure patterns, and Thailand remains good value for money for visitors across the board.