After a three-year lull, Thailand is gearing up for an influx of tourists as international capacity roars back.
By DAVID CASEY
Thailand welcomed more than 11 million foreign tourists in 2022, the highest number since COVID-19 emerged and topping previous projections of 10 million.
The figure represented a quarter of the 40 million international arrivals recorded in 2019, when revenue from foreign tourism amounted to about $58 billion. However, there is growing anticipation that the momentum gained during the second half of 2022 will accelerate now that mainland China has ended its strict COVID-19 restrictions and reopened its borders to the world.
“The Chinese market was a major tourist segment in Thailand, accounting for 10.9 million passengers or 27.6% of all international tourists in 2019,” Airports of Thailand (AOT) executive VP of business development and marketing Paweena Jariyathitipong told Routes. “Their spending per passenger was also the highest of any country.”
She said that AOT expects passenger volumes to recover the fastest from tier one cities in China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu, adding that Chinese carriers are already looking to return to markets they operated before the pandemic.
Although the rebound back to pre-pandemic levels will not be immediate—as airlines take time to reactivate their fleets and reinstate routes, coupled with China’s backlog of passport and visa applications—Thailand’s government hopes that 7 to 10 million Chinese tourists will visit the Southeast Asia nation by air during 2023.
A wider target of 25 million overseas holidaymakers visiting Thailand this year is also in place.
“We’re seeing a remarkable growth of international traffic into Thailand, with a strong increase at all airports under the management of AOT,” Jariyathitipong said.
Airports operated by AOT include Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi (BKK) and Don Mueang (DMK), as well as Phuket (HKT), Chiang Rai (CEI) and Chiang Mai (CNX). Total passenger traffic across the group totaled 62.8 million in 2022, up by 288% year-on-year. Around 40% was international.
For the first quarter of 2023, data provided by OAG Schedules Analyser shows that the number of international departure seats from all airports in Thailand will surge by almost 25% to 6.8 million, compared with the fourth quarter of 2022. Domestic capacity will be 3% higher at 10 million seats.
In Chiang Mai, capacity during Q1 2023 will be approximately 1.3 million seats, representing an increase of 18% on Q4 2022. The lion’s share of the growth is being driven by an expanding international schedule, which will see some 250,000 departure seats during the first three months of the year, up from 97,000 in the previous quarter.
Routes that have returned in recent months include VietJet’s flights from Ho Chi Minh City (SGN), Korean Air from Seoul Incheon (ICN), Hong Kong Express from Hong Kong (HKG), and Jeju Airlines from Busan (BUS). Chinese carriers China Eastern Airlines, Juneyao Airlines and Spring Airlines have also reinstated flights from Shanghai (PVG).
Additionally, Chiang Mai has been successful in securing new air service, with China Airlines opening a 4X-weekly flight from Taiwan Taoyuan International (TPE) in January, and Thai VietJet set to launch a new route to Osaka Kansai (KIX) on Feb 17, operating three times per week.
Jariyathitipong highlighted the impact of a new route incentive scheme, launched in October, that seeks to boost connectivity between primary and secondary international cities to secondary cities in Thailand. She added that AOT is working in close collaboration with the Tourism Authority of Thailand on marketing campaigns to ensure the routes perform well.
Looking ahead, AOT is this year planning to expediate the expansion of Bangkok’s two international airports to help meet expected future demand. Speaking in December, Thailand’s transport minister Saksayam Chidchob said tenders would be launched in 2023 for the redevelopment work.
Proposals include building a new $300 million passenger terminal on the east side of Suvarnabhumi, which could be operational within five years’ time, and the potential addition of two more passenger terminals—one to the west of the main terminal and another to the north.
In addition, Chidchob said AOT would look for bidders for the third phase of Don Mueang’s expansion, which has a budget of about $1 billion. It is hoped construction on the Suvarnabhumi and Don Mueang projects can begin in 2024.
