7,000 Visitors from China will be visiting Thailand
BANGKOK (Tourism Authority of Thailand) - Nearly 7,000 incentive travel award winners from five major Chinese cities are to redeem their awards with a holiday in Bangkok and Pattaya this month. It is the biggest ever group of Chinese tourists to visit Thailand.
The group of employees from Pro-Health (China) Company Limited originating from Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Xiamen and Shantou will be in Thailand during October 8-27, 2005.
Their trip is being organised by China International Travel Service (CITS) as part of the efforts to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Sino-thai diplomatic relations and to support the Thai tourism industry in recovering from the tsunami disaster in December 2004.
The first group will arrive in the evening of October 8, 2005, and be officially welcomed at Bangkok International Airport by the Governor of Tourism Authority of Thailand Mrs. Juthamas Siriwan. The rest of the award winners will fly in later aboard 30 flights from the five Chinese cities.
The Governor said, "We would like to sincerely thank the Chinese authorities for their cooperation and support that has made it possible. This visit will make a significant contribution towards facilitating the recovery of the China market."
A statement by the Chinese embassy in Thailand said, "It marks a new beginning of the friendly relations and cooperation between the two peoples and between the tourist industries of the two countries."
In 2004, China was the fourth largest generator of tourists for Thailand after Malaysia, Japan and Korea. Visitor arrivals from China totaled 779,070, an increase of 24.8% over 2003.
Visitor arrivals from China at Bangkok International Airport during January - August 2005 totalled 432,308, an increase of 4.67% and the second highest number of visitor arrivals.
Pro-Health (China) Co., Ltd., is a health-care and wellness company based in Beijing. It has an extensive distribution nationwide network, with approximately one million member consumers, over 30,000 authorized agents and more than 200 self-operated retail outlets.
Mrs Juthamas also welcomed the choice of Pattaya as the group's destination. "Pattaya is one of our best known beach cities and we are sure they will have a good time," she said.
Located about 130 kms southeast of Bangkok, Pattaya is now comfortably accessible by two modern motorways in about 90 minutes.
Chinese visitors to Thailand are expected to boom in the next few months following the bilateral tourism promotion agreement signed between the TAT and four Chinese companies in September 2005.
The pact was part of a wide-ranging series of agreements signed with three Chinese tour operators, China Comfort Travel, Beijing Jiendajiaqi International Travel Service, and Guangdong China International Travel Service as well as the public relations company, Publicitas China.
TAT is to support these companies in their efforts to raise the profile of Thailand in China and raise the number of Chinese visitors during the rest of 2005 as well as over a period of 5 years.
China's Prime Minister, Wen Jiabao, plans to visit Thailand at the end of 2005 to further strengthen bilateral relations.
Thailand and China established ties in 1975. Two-way trade during the first eight months of the year grew 30 per cent to US$13.9 billion and Chinese investments in Thailand tripled to US$200 million.
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