Tourism spending during the Lunar New Year is estimated to reach 21.3 billion baht, 48% of the total in 2019, mostly driven by foreign visitors, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
The Lunar New Year holiday, which started this week in many countries, is forecast to tally 588,900 foreign arrivals, generating 16.7 billion baht in receipts between Jan 19-27, said TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn.
Of the total, tourists from Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia are expected to dominate the market, totalling 332,500 arrivals generating 11 billion baht.
The strong recovery stems from pent-up demand as some of these countries eased travel restrictions in the final quarter of 2022.
Travel curbs during last year's Lunar New Year holiday meant tourists from Northeast Asia and Southeast Asia only tallied 3,585.
He said South Korea posted the highest flight bookings at 103% of the level in 2019, stronger than pre-pandemic years because the Korean Lunar New Year this year is a four-day holiday, during the season Koreans prefer to travel.
Two other markets recording strong growth are Taiwan and Hong Kong at 64% and 32%, respectively, of pre-pandemic booking levels.
Meanwhile, Mr Yuthasak said the number of Chinese tourists during the holiday could reach 29,400 with spending of around 1 billion baht, a significant increase from 767 tourists in 2022, but a far cry from 396,658 travellers generating 10 billion baht in 2019.
He said the slow recovery of the Chinese market is attributed to flight supply not meeting demand, while the issuing of new passports and visas takes some time. In addition, travel groups are still not allowed to take overseas trips.
Vietnamese tourists, who have a six-day holiday for Tet, posted bookings of 72% of the 2019 level, but travellers are likely to spend 3-4 days in their hometowns to pay respect to their ancestors before going abroad, said Mr Yuthasak.
He said the domestic market is buoyant, as revenue could reach 81% of the total in 2019, or around 4.6 billion baht, up 139% from last year. Domestic tourists for the period are expected to tally 1.38 million, 90% of 2019's figure.
As local tourists have pent-up demand after enduring Covid curbs for more than two years, they are expected to take trips to pay respect in the new year, said Mr Yuthasak.
The average hotel occupancy during this period is estimated at 59%, while Bangkok remains the top destination, drawing at least 197,350 tourists, contributing 870 million baht to the economy, said the TAT.
