Thai tourism authorities promote travel from China

On Sept 5, the TAT & TG Mega Tam Trip From China 2018 conference was held in Patong, Phuket, Thailand. The conference was attended by 50 tourism companies and media from China, a total of 74 people, and visited Phuket to promote the tourist season.

The event was co-hosted by the National Tourism Administration of Thailand and Thailand International Airlines, Phuket Tourism Association and the Southern Thailand Hotel Association. From Sept 1 to 4, the Chinese team visited Phuket and explored the city's tourism resources. On Sept 5, the team participated in meetings with local travel service providers.

Runjuan Tongrut, director of the East Asia department of the National Tourism Administration of Thailand, said in recent years the main source of inbound tourism in Thailand comes from China. In the past, Chinese tourists traveled to Thailand for leisure activities or shopping. Now, family travel, honeymoon trips and sports travel have become more popular travel motives for Chinese tourists, especially sports tourism, marathons and diving.

Last year, Hurun Report selected Phuket as the "most memorable destination" and the "most popular summer/autumn international tourist destination" for China's high-income luxury tourists and young tourists.

In addition, in 2016, Thailand also won eight travel awards from the Chinese travel company Ctrip; Phuket won the "Best Island Destination Award". Ctrip is China's largest and most influential travel agency.

China is an important market for tourism in Thailand and has great potential. Every year, Chinese citizens make more than 120 million outbound trips to the country. Today's Chinese consumers prefer to travel abroad, and according to the survey, Thailand is a top destination. In 2017, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Thailand reached 9.8 million. From January to July 2018, the number of Chinese tourists visiting Thailand reached 6.86 million, an increase of 21.44 percent over the same period last year. Average consumption of Chinese tourists was 53,946 baht ($1,643) per travel.

The National Tourism Administration of Thailand expects that with the promotion of various activities, more Chinese tourists can travel to Thailand and enjoy Phuket tourism products.