Joining Mr Petch to welcome the visitors in the Arrivals Hall at the International Terminal were other high-level members of Airports of Thailand (AoT), which operates six major international airport in the country including Phuket International Airport, as well as representatives airline companies and government officials.
The Golden Week holiday this year runs for eight days, from Oct 1-8, as the National Day Golden Week coincides with the Mid-Autumn Festival.
Tourism & Sports Ministry Permanent Secretary Pongpanu Svetarundra announced on Tuesday that the ministry forecasts that about 260,000 Chinese tourists will visit Thailand during the Golden Week, up 35% from the same period last year.
Mr Pongpanu said China’s leading travel website reveals that Thailand is the top attraction for Chinese tourists during the Golden Week.
According to the Ministry of Tourism & Sports, the Chinese tourists will likely spend their holidays in Bangkok, Pattaya, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Samui.
The Chinese tourists are expected to generate revenue of over B11 billion for the country during China’s national holiday, Mr Pongpanu said.
For the full month of October, the number of Chinese tourists is expected to increase more than 20% to over 600,000, generating more than B30bn, he added.
Meanwhile, the CEO of China’s largest international property website has predicted huge growth in the interest in Phuket property from Chinese buyers in the upcoming Golden Week.
“Overseas travel numbers will set a new record this Golden Week. About six million Chinese will go abroad during the holiday, according to Ctrip, China’s top travel company,” said Carrie Law, CEO of Juwai.com, which as the largest source for global property in Chinese language boasts more than 2.5 million property listings spanning 89 countries.
“We expect Southeast Asian countries like Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam to see a significant increase in Chinese buyer activity during Golden Week. Enquiries and traffic on Juwai.com could be up by one-third over a typical week-long period,” she added. (See story here.)
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