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Thailand launches sports tourism to attract more tourists

Xinhua, June 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

Thailand is preparing to launch sports facilities and events around the country to attract more foreign tourists.

"I would like to invite sport-loving tourists around the world to enjoy what our country can offer," Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, minister of tourism and sports of Thailand, said Wednesday while giving a speech at the Thailand Travel Mart 2016 Plus Amazing Gateway to the Greater Mekong Subregion held here.

Kobkarm said that Thailand has set up 5,000 boxing rings, over 50 diving clubs and urban and rural cycling lanes around the country for visitors to enjoy their vacation in Thailand.

The minister was very confident that these facilities and events will be attractive to tourists from East Asian countries like China.

The number of Chinese tourists visiting Thailand is large, so we added golf and diving in the package in order to attract more Chinese tourists who are fond of these sports, Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of Tourism Authority of Thailand(TAT), told Xinhua.

Chinese tourist now accounts for about 30 percent of total foreign tourists visiting the Thailand, and is the largest source of visitors.

In 2015, a total of 7.9 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand and they generated 376 million Baht (10.64 million U.S. dollars) in revenue for the Thai economy, representing an increase of 71.14 percent and 87 percent respectively compared with 2014.

According to Yuthasak, over 3.4 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand from January to April in 2016, which is a 27.35 percent increase compared with the same period in 2015.

TAT expected the number of Chinese tourists to be over 10 million throughout this year. Endit