Thailand and Japan are attracting more Chinese tourists as South Korea draws fewer.
The mainland sent 7.9 million people to Thailand in 2015, an annual increase of 70 percent to become the top country destination ahead of Korea, which had 2 percent fewer arrivals, and Japan, where visitors more than doubled to 5 million.
That one-two-three ranking continued during last month’s Chinese Spring Festival, according to preliminary data reported by the People’s Daily newspaper.
Thailand managed to attract just under 30 million international visitors in 2015, according to final figures released by the Tourism Department.
These 29,881,091 foreign arrivals represented an increase of 20.4% over the 24.81 million who visited in 2014, statistics posted on the department’s website showed.
The Thailand tourism industry has been defiantly strong despite challenges such as the Bangkok bombing at a busy central intersection last August which killed 20 and injured more than 120 people, reported Reuters.
Source: Thailand Passes Korea as Top Nation for Mainland Visitors: Chart – Bloomberg Business
