Tourist arrivals projected at 24.5mn

Thailand's tourist arrivals are expected to rise 10 per cent from last year to 24.5 million in 2013, while tourism spending will increase by 14 per cent to Bt1.06 trillion, according to Kasikorn Research Centre.

The research centre said that Chinese tourists would remain the main drive, and the number of arrivals from China would increase by 21.3 per cent from the previous year.

Last year, over 2 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand, making China the largest tourism market for Thailand which attracted a total of 22.3 million tourists. Last year, they spent a total of Bt926.5 billion, an increase of 19.4 per cent from the previous year.