(Bangkok)
BEIJING, July 20 (Xinhua) -- China remains the most important source of tourists for Thailand in the first half of this year, according to a report recently published by Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports.
The number of foreign tourist arrivals in Thailand during the first half of this year was about 17.33 million and they contributed 137 billion baht of tourism income, representing an increase of 6 percent year on year.
The Chinese visitors contributed over 8.7 million of tourist arrivals to Thailand last year, accounting for about 30 percent of foreign tourist arrivals.
Thailand will be focusing on attracting tourists from China’s second-tier cities, who have never visited Thailand before. It is estimated that the number of Chinese visitors to Thailand will continue to top the ranking with up to 9 million tourist arrivals among all source countries in this year, said Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of Tourism Authority of Thailand. (Edited by Hu Pingchao, hupingchao@xinhua.org)
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