Thai tourism revenue a record high in 2011

The tourism business boomed in 2011, with overall revenue up about 20 percent over 2010, a historic high, despite the flood crisis, Bangkok Post online reported on Thursday. Supol Sriphan, director general of the Tourism Department under the Tourism and Sports Ministry, said that 19.09 million tourists came to Thailand in 2011, up 19.8 percent on the previous year, contributing to 734.59 billion baht (23.08 million U.S. dollars) tourism revenue. The largest number of foreign tourists were from Malaysia, at 2. 47 million, followed by China (1.76 million), Japan (1.12 million), Russia (1,014,493), South Korea (1,014,292), India (916,787), Laos (887,677), Australia, (854,064), Great Britain (844,221) and the United States (684,073). Tourists from these countries accounted for 66.6 percent of total foreign tourists visiting the country in 2011. Supol said the number of tourists from other Asian nations is expected to further increase along with the continuing economic expansion in China, India and South Korea. The director general projected that the number of foreign tourists to Thailand in 2012 would increase by 8 to 10 percent to reach somewhere between 20.5 million and 20.9 million. Damage from the flood that hit over 12.8 million people from July - December 2011 was estimated by the World Bank at 1,440 billion baht (45 billion dollars).