BANGKOK: Thailand remains one of the top five tourist- generating markets for Malaysia, with 1.7 million Thais expected to visit the country this year, said Malaysian Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Aziz.
He said Thailand was fourth in the list, behind Singapore, China and Indonesia, for the period January to June this year. Brunei is the fifth top tourist-generating market for Malaysia.
“Despite being the fourth top tourist-generating market for Malaysia with 864,453 Thais visiting the country from January to June this year, Thailand registered the highest growth of 32.1 per cent (compared to the corresponding period last year),” he told reporters after attending World Tourism Day 2016 here yesterday.
Mohamed Nazri said several factors were behind the upsurge in Thai tourists visiting Malaysia this year, a major one being improvements in the country’s economy especially during the first half of the year.
The improving Thai economy, he said, strengthened the Thai Baht against the Dollar and the Malaysian Ringgit, which contributed to the growth in tourist arrivals from Thailand.
“Besides that, thanks to the increase of accessibility of air travel, attractive packages by our travel agents, especially at the common border, helped promote Malaysia as one of the top Thai family holiday destinations,” he said.
Malaysia, he said, would work closely with Thailand, especially at their common border, to ease and facilitate travel into Malaysia by Thai tourists. — Bernama