Europe has long been a major source market for the Thai tourism industry. Of the 15.84 million international visitor arrivals to Thailand in 2010, a total of 4.341.447 arrivals were from Europe, a market share of 27,41% and an increase of 6,93% over 2009, according to Thailand Business News.
Although, there was a decline in the second and third quarters of 2010 due to the internal political unrest, the air-traffic disruption in Europe caused by the Iceland volcanic eruption and the economic crisis in Southern Europe, the number of visitors rebounded in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Scandinavian arrivals declined
Scandinavian visitors to Thailand in 2010 totaled 723.010 arrivals. It is an decrease of 6,5% from 2009. Both Sweden and Finland showed lower number of arrivals while Norway and Denmark increased the visits to Thailand.
2010 2009
Sweden 316.406 350.819
Denmark 150.522 144.834
Finland 131.525 156.000
Norway 124.557 121.575
Source: Immigration Bureau, Police Department
