BANGKOK – Thailand not only seeks to encourage tourists from all over the world to visit the country, but more Thais are travelling overseas at the moment. Japan remains the top destination, with China moving closer, aided by the Thai-Chinese visa exemption agreement.
Charoen Wangananont, president of the Thai Travel Association (TTAA), said the association expects the total outbound travel market, or Thais traveling abroad, to total about 8-10 million people in 2023, an increase of about 5-10 percent compared to 2022, returning to a level similar to that of 2019 before the COVID-19 outbreak with about 10-11 million people.
The most popular destination for Thais traveling abroad this year continues to be Japan, with a high rate of repeat trips to both major cities and secondary cities. In 2024, an estimated 1.2 to 1.5 million Thais will travel to Japan, which is similar to the 2019 figure of around 1.3 million people and higher than the 2022 figure of around 1 million people.
The positive factors continue to be the weakening of the Japanese yen and the fall in airline ticket prices due to the increased number of seats on the market. Other markets that are growing significantly are China, Vietnam and Laos.
Thanapol Chiwarattanaporn, vice president of the TTAA and managing director of Quality Express Co, Ltd, a company specializing in tourism and tours at home and abroad, told “Prachachat” that the market that is very good for overseas travel by Thais and is the fastest growing is China. It has been noted that the number of trips has increased exponentially since the beginning of this year.
It is expected that after the application of visa-free travel between China and Thailand from March 1, 2024, the number of trips by Thais to China will increase significantly again.
It is estimated that the number of Thais traveling to China will double in 2024 compared to 2019 before the COVID-19 crisis, with around 600,000 to 700,000 Thais traveling to China. The number will be over 1 million people, roughly equivalent to the number of Thais traveling to Japan, which has long been a popular destination for Thais.
After the visa waiver agreement between Thailand and China was signed on January 28, 2023, it was found that on Trip.com Thailand, the search rate for related search terms in China increased more than four times compared to the previous day. The cities that Thai tourists searched for most frequently are Shanghai, Chengdu, Harbin, Shenzhen, Beijing, Tianjin, Chongqing and Zhangjiajie.
Another market to keep an eye on is South Korea, which has been a problem market in the past due to group travel with registration through the K-ETA system. The South Korean government is expected to abolish the K-ETA system in the second quarter of this year. If it can be abolished, South Korea will probably be a popular market for Thais again.
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