Dai Bin | "Magical Thailand" meets "Hello! China"——Tourism Authority of Thailand, Tourism Association of Thailand 2024 China Roadshow Speech

On September 5, 2024, at the invitation of the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Tourism and Travel Association of Thailand, our Dean Dai Bin attended the 2024 "Magical Thailand" China Roadshow and delivered a speech. The full text is as follows:

Dear Mr. Han Cancai, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to China, colleagues from the tourism industry of China and Thailand, and friends from the media,

Good evening! China and Thailand have always been important tourist destinations for each other, and they are also the fastest recovering tourist markets. As early as the 1990s, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore became synonymous with Chinese citizens' overseas travel. From 2008 to 2019, Chinese citizens' travel to Thailand maintained a sustained and rapid growth trend, with an average annual growth rate of 29.1%. In 2019, 10.3645 million Chinese citizens traveled to Thailand as their first stop. In 2019, 870,500 Thai tourists came to China, ranking among the top ten source countries of the "Belt and Road". Affected by favorable factors such as mutual visa exemption and market promotion, China and Thailand are also the fastest recovering source markets for each other. In the first half of 2024, 477,100 Thais came to China, a year-on-year increase of 378.1%. 3.2088 million Chinese citizens traveled to Thailand as their first stop, a year-on-year increase of 141.2%, close to the level of the whole year last year. China and Thailand have been promoting the steady and long-term development of the tourism industry and have received high scores in tourist satisfaction. In 2023, the satisfaction of Chinese tourists to Thailand was 81.87 points, ranking sixth among outbound tourism destinations. Chinese tourists gave high scores to Thailand's destination image, attitude of local residents, cost-effectiveness, leisure and entertainment, and shopping. The satisfaction of Thai tourists to China in 2023 was 83.48, which was significantly higher than the overall satisfaction of inbound tourists. In addition to the inconvenience of English communication, the hotel's geographical location, clean and comfortable rooms, and the professional quality of corporate employees were all highly evaluated. It is worth mentioning that Thai tourists believe that China not only cooks good Chinese food, but also very authentic Thai food. China-Thailand tourism exchanges benefit from political mutual trust, people-to-people exchanges and economic and trade exchanges, as well as the mutual efforts of tourism departments and the tourism industry. In April 2012, China and Thailand established a comprehensive strategic partnership. In 2022, President Xi Jinping went to Bangkok to attend the APEC meeting and officially visited the Kingdom of Thailand. In 2024, China and Thailand implemented a mutual visa exemption policy. Not long ago, Princess Sirindhorn, who was nearly 70 years old, ended her 51st visit to China for 7 days. From Beijing to Sichuan, a new chapter of the friendly friendship of "China and Thailand are one family" has been written all the way. At present, the tourism exchanges between China and Thailand are ushering in new opportunities for prosperity, and I believe that they will soon recover and exceed the historical highest level. I hope that more Chinese tourists will go to Thailand for sightseeing, leisure and vacation. I hope that the tourism industry of the Thai government can provide Chinese tourists with higher safety and quality guarantees. I hope that more Thai tourists can come to China like Princess Sirindhorn to experience a China that inherits culture and creates the future, a China of national rejuvenation and people's happiness, and an open and inclusive China where hosts and guests share. I wish the Tourism Authority of Thailand and the Tourism Association of Thailand a successful 2024 China Roadshow! Author | Dai Bin Editor | Liu Xin Source | China Tourism Research Institute (Data Center of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism) Please indicate the author and source for reprinting