BANGKOK, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- The number of Chinese mainland tourists to Thailand increased 69.82 percent in October as compared with the same month last year, announced Tourism and Sports Ministry on Tuesday.
Some 2,723,917 foreign tourists travelled to Thailand in October, up 20.92 percent when compared with the same period last year, the ministry's deputy secretary Pongpanu Svetarundra said during a monthly press conference, adding that these tourists brought to Thailand 142 billion baht (4.3 billion U.S. dollars) of income, increasing 24.38 percent.
The number of Chinese tourists dramatically recovered after a decrease late last year, helping the total number of foreign tourists to grow while Chinese tourists are still the largest group among foreign tourists and contribute the most to the Thai tourism industry, he said.
Pongpanu also mentioned that some 28,824,753 foreign tourists travelled to the kingdom in the first 10 months of 2017, marking a 6.69 increase compared with the same period last year and these tourists contributed some 1.47 trillion baht (45 billion U.S. dollars) to Thailand.
