Women help boost Thailand's visitor arrivals

A strong, above-average growth in female visitors has been one of the major highlights of the Thai tourism industry which ended 2002 with total arrivals of 10,799,067, an increase of 7.33% over 2001.

The total number of female visitors jumped by a strong 8.21% to 4,372,085 compared to an increase of 6.73% in male visitors to 6,426,982.

TAT Governor Mrs. Juthamas Siriwan said, “This is a clear sign of success of our policy by promoting products targeted more at women like shopping,  health and culture.”

Total arrivals for 2002 surpassed the original target set for the year and even crossed the most recent estimate of 10.70 million or 6% growth which had  been projected in the wake of the travel advisories that followed the Bali bomb attacks last October. 

Total tourism earnings are still being tabulated, but TAT is projecting total revenues of 360.6 billion baht, up 11.5% over 2001. Domestic visitors in 2002 are projected at 63.07 million, up 2.5%, with earnings of 323 billion baht, up an estimated 4.87%.

Mrs Juthamas said, “Thailand continues to attract tourists mainly due to its image as a stable and peaceful country with excellent quality of products and services at good value for money. 

“The growth in 2002, which came inspite of considerable global instability, has given a boost to our efforts to make Thailand the ‘Tourism Capital of  Asia’ within three years.”

Particularly noteworthy was the fact that arrivals from all regions showed growth, especially from East Asia, Europe, the Americas, South Asia, and the  Middle East. Only Oceania and Africa showed slight declines.

Visitors in the 45-54 and 55-64 age brackets were up strongly, as were first-time visitors and convention delegates.

“These are clear indications that Thailand is attracting a high- quality clientele which is exactly what we have been trying to do in our marketing  campaigns,” Mrs Juthamas said.

Details of Visitor Arrivals 2002

Overview

Visitor arrivals in 2002 totalled 10,799,067, an increase of 7.33% over 2001. The East Asian region was the largest source of visitors with a total of 6,531,546 or 60.48% of the total market. Arrivals grew from most markets except Oceania and Africa. South Asia had the highest growth rate of 17.25% to 390,745.

Market Analysis

East Asia:

Visitors from East Asia totalled 6,531,546, (+7.71%). Arrivals from ASEAN countries were up 9.60% to 2,614,627. Of these, visitors from Cambodia had the highest growth of 45.63% to 79,219.

Malaysia was the largest source-market with 1,296,109 visitors (+11.77%), followed by Japan with 1,222,270 visitors (+4.60%). The third largest source-market was China with 763,139 visitors (+9.82%), and the fourth was Korea with 716,778 (+29.62%).

Europe:

Visitors from Europe grew 6.35% to 2,450,878 over 2001, with all countries reporting growth, except Sweden. The top two source markets were the U.K. (569,812 arrivals, +10.01%) and Germany (403,240 arrivals, +1.31%). Arrivals  from Spain enjoyed the fastest growth of 24.94% to 48,491.

Other source-markets showing growth higher than 10% were Russia (+17.06% to 68,978), East Europe (+11.21% to 65,361).

However, the German and Swedish markets which were considered strong potential markets before the crisis in Bali, have slowed considerably. Arrivals from Germany grew by only 1.31% to 403,240 while arrivals from Sweden fell 0.97% to 220,866.

The Americas:

Visitors from the Americas rose 5.98% to 640,143 with Brazil showing the strongest growth of 30.08% to 5,535.

After declining in the first half of 2002, visitors from the USA started to grow again in the third quarter and ended the year with an overall growth of 5.06% to 509,841. The US is Thailand’s ninth largest source-market overall.

South Asia:

Arrivals from South Asia rose by 17.25% to 390,745 in 2002. Arrivals from India totalled 253,110, a bumper increase of 22.79%. Indian travellers in tour groups experienced significant growth (35.23% to 95,153). Many are coming for health and medical check- ups.

Pakistan was the only source-market to decline (-16.33% to 29,902).

Oceania:

Arrivals from Oceania fell slightly by 0.98% to 423,501, mainly because Qantas/British Airways relocated its Asian stopover hub on the Australia-Europe route from Bangkok to Singapore.

However, visitors from New Zealand were up 5.85% to 64,771.

Middle East:

Visitors from all countries showed good growth to end the year with a rise of 14.98% to 272,805.

Main markets like Israel and secondary markets like the U.A.E. and Kuwait both did well. Arrivals from Israel grew by 8.19% to 98,629, and arrivals from UAE were up 18.69% to 43,549.

Africa:

Visitors from Africa fell slightly by 1.66% to 89,449. However, visitors from the major market of South Africa fell considerably by 10.24% to 37,721.

Visitor Profiles in 2002

Female visitors totalled 4,372,085, an increase of 8.21%. Male visitors also rose by 6.73% to 6,426,982. First-time visitors were up by 13.09% to 5,490,510.

Visitors aged 45-54 grew by 10.88% to 2,099,828 while those in the 55-64 age bracket also grew strongly by 15.82% to 1,228,238 in 2002.

Visitors travelling as part of a tour group totalled 4,931,079, up 16.31%. Convention delegates showed a healthy growth of 19.15% to 106,853.

The average length of stay for visitors covering the full year 2002 is still being tabulated, but during January-November 2002, it was 7.94 days.

Forecast

In 2003, TAT has targeted 11.35 million, a 6.07% increase for international tourists to Thailand. However, worsen global circumstances might result in the slight decline of traffic. The forecast of 1-4 % increase has been made in such scenarios.