Data from Airports of Thailand (AoT) showed the number of Chinese tourists arriving since the incident on Oct 3 was 590,000, a 9.2% decline compared with bookings of 650,000, government spokesman Chai Wacharonke said on Saturday (Oct 14), reports Bangkok Post.
However, the number is still within the range of expectations because the number of people booking tickets is always higher than the number who purchase tickets, he said.
“Normally, the number of bookings is within a range of plus or minus 15% of the real travel figures, so the reduction of 9.2% of Chinese visitors after the incident is normal. It shows that Chinese tourists are still confident in travelling to Thailand,” he said.
Mr Chai also took the opportunity to thank those Chinese tourists who had made the trip despite the tragedy.
“We’d like to thank Chinese tourists for understanding Thailand and having confidence in the government,” he said. “Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has instructed agencies to comply with standards to ensure safety for tourists and Thais alike.”
Chinese visits to Phuket peaked in July when the number of direct international arrivals via air reached 74,766 people as per Phuket Immigration statistics. Since then monthly visits from China have been only declining, according to Novosti Phuketa, the Russian-language sister newspaper to The Phuket News.
In August the resort island saw 64,674 Chinese passport holders passing though Immigration counters at the airport. The number dropped further down to 37,343 in September.
Direct arrivals from the Mainland China in September were lower than in March (45,147 visits) and April (46,697 visits) when the Chinese market just started its recovery after Beijing had lifted COVID-19 restrictions on outbound tourism.
Neither Phuket officials nor local hospitality heavyweights, such as Phuket Tourism Association (PTA), have provided any explanation for this drastic reverse of the trend.
According to Phuket Tourist Association (PTA) President Thaneth Tantipiriyakij, the level of tourism in September ‒ including domestic visitors and international arrivals to Phuket ‒ was equivalent to 68% of the pre-pandemic level.
About 13 million tourists visited Phuket in 2019, including 3.1mn Chinese tourists. This compared to around 900,000 Chinese visitors this year as of last week of September, Mr Thaneth said.
The visa-free scheme, which kicked off on Sept 25 for Chinese and Kazakh nationals, was tipped to boost that number to 1.7mn Chinese this year, he added approximately one week before the Siam Paragon shooting.