TAT upbeat on Golden Week

Thailand is expecting up to 183,000 Chinese visitors during this year’s Golden Week holiday, representing an 88% recovery from 2019, generating 5.1 billion baht revenue, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
Thapanee Kiatphaibool, TAT governor, said Chinese arrivals during Golden Week from Oct 1-7 should see 30% growth from 18,000 daily visitors recorded since the beginning of this year.
At present, the Chinese outbound market has recovered to 85% of 2019’s level, while flight capacity between Thailand and China has improved 70% year-on-year, she said.
During the seven-day holiday, TAT forecasts a total of 132,000-183,000 Chinese arrivals, generating 3.7-5.1 billion baht, up from 2.3 billion baht recorded in last year’s Golden Week.
According to travel data firm Forwardkeys, the number of flight bookings from China to Thailand during the holiday period increased 250% year-on-year.
The most bookings were made for Oct 1, however, some Chinese people already began their trips ahead of time, as early as Sept 28.
Their booking period also became shorter with only eight days before commencing travel, while most Chinese tourists visited as a group of 13 people on average.
According to the TAT, direct flights between Thailand and China in this period tallied 1,097 flights, offering 197,757 seats, connecting 43 Chinese cities with six airports in Thailand.
Shanghai made up 19% of total capacity, followed by Guangzhou and Chengdu, which accounted for 15% and 8%, respectively.
Some airlines also increased flights to capture passenger demand in this busy holiday, including Juneyao Airlines, Thai Lion Air and Thai AirAsia X.
Ms Thapanee said the visa exemption also helped attract Chinese tourists, as the number of arrivals soared 122% year-on-year in the first seven months.
The TAT launched various programmes for the China market in September and October, such as promotional campaigns with five Chinese online travel platforms, special deals for Chinese passport holders and Butter Bear mascot campaigns.
Thirayuth Chirathivat, chief executive of Centara Hotels & Resorts, which also has a hotel in Japan, said cities like Tokyo and Osaka remained the most-visited destinations for Chinese tourists during the holiday, while Thailand experienced a decrease of 30% due to unrecovered flight capacity.
Japanese cities secured a growth of 40% due to the strong flight capacity, said Mr Thirayuth.
Mr Thirayuth said there has been a shift towards last-minute bookings as tourists booked one day before or the same day as check-ins.