About 1.54 Million Korean Tourists Visited Thailand This Year
Korean Trips Canceled in Thailand Due to K-ETA Implementation
About 1.54 million Korean tourists have visited Thailand this year. This is the fourth highest number after China, Malaysia, and India.
Recently, local media such as The Nation and Bangkok Post reported that the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports announced that as of the 3rd of this month, approximately 29.08 million foreign tourists have visited Thailand this year. By nationality, Chinese tourists were the most numerous at 5.757 million, followed by Malaysia (4.187 million), India (1.726 million), and Korea.
The amount they spent during their stay was about 1.36 trillion baht (approximately 55.3 trillion won).
Online travel platform Agoda forecasted that the number of foreign tourists visiting Thailand next year will exceed 39 million. It is analyzed that, barring any special external factors, the number of arrivals could surpass the previous record set in 2019.
In particular, Thailand is known as a country with many repeat visitors, second only to Japan. Agoda explained that the government's visa exemption system and increased flights are factors contributing to the rise in tourists to Thailand. Tourism directly and indirectly accounts for about 20% of Thailand's gross domestic product (GDP) and jobs. The spending by foreign tourists amounts to about 12% of GDP, indicating the significant share of the tourism industry.
On the other hand, it was revealed that at least 9,947 group tourists from Thailand canceled their trips to Korea last year. This was influenced by rising anti-Korean sentiment following the implementation of the Thailand Electronic Travel Authorization (K-ETA). The 'K-ETA' is a system that decides travel permission in advance by receiving information before departure for nationals of countries eligible for visa-free entry, including Thailand and 112 other countries.
However, despite most Thai group tourists being corporate incentive travelers with verified identities, many were denied entry to Korea due to unclear approval criteria of the K-ETA, resulting in financial damages such as accommodation and airfare costs. It was later confirmed that they changed their destinations to neighboring countries allowing visa-free entry, such as Japan and Taiwan.
Previously, in the 'Southeast Asia Major Countries Korea Visit Recovery Status' submitted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Thailand ranked first among Southeast Asian countries for visits to Korea before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, based on data from January to August this year, the number of visitors from Thailand to Korea dropped to 203,159, ranking fourth in Southeast Asia, with a recovery rate of 57.2% compared to 2019.
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