Laos ranked fifth among the major tourist source markets for Thailand from January 1 to 15 of this year, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
Governor of the TAT, Mr. Yuthasak Supsasorn revealed that Laos made the top ten in foreign arrivals to Thailand within the first half of January 2023, grabbing the fifth spot, with 41,863 travelers visiting Thailand.
Tourists from India arrived in equal numbers as those from Laos, giving India fourth place on the list.
Tourists from Russia surpassed Malaysia, overtaking the first place with 99,593 tourists visiting the country compared to 89,461 from Malaysia.
According to the statistics, Singapore came third on the list, with 381,940 people visiting Thailand.
Mr. Yuthasak also voiced his belief that Chinese visitors, who currently rank tenth with 28,643 travelers, will soon rise to the top five.
“This is in line with the expectation that the Chinese market will gradually improve in 2023,” said Mr. Yuthasak.
According to Mr. Yuthasak, TAT is currently planning to entice approximately 25 million tourists into Thailand throughout 2023, more than doubling the total of 11.5 million foreign arrivals in 2022.
TAT is also expecting foreign tourists will contribute 80 percent of the tourism revenue generated by the 40 million tourists that arrived in 2019 before the epidemic.
Thailand also scrapped its vaccination requirement earlier this month after receiving negative press.
Meanwhile in Laos, the Ministry of Information, Culture, and Tourism held a meeting last week in Vientiane Capital to discuss preparations underway for the arrival of Chinese tourists.
Laos has been included in a list of 20 countries authorized for the resumption of outbound group tours by the Chinese government.
