Thailand earned some 627.04 billion baht (18 billion U.S. dollars) from tourism in the third quarter of 2016 with a year-on-year increase of 12.22 percent, Thai government said Friday.

Among the total revenue, Some 410.76 billion baht (12 billion USD) was earned from over 8 million foreign tourists, said Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul in a press conference.

According to her, Chinese mainland tourists, accounting for over 30 percent of all foreign tourists, contributed some 123.61 billion baht (3.5 billion USD) for the kingdom from July to September, representing an year-on-year increase of 15.67 percent.

China has been the country providing the most tourists to Thailand in recent years.

As for the other two major markets for Thai tourism, 1.2 million European tourists brought some 86.87 billion baht (2.5 billion USD) to the country while 2.2 million visitors from ASEAN countries contributed some 67.6 billion baht (2 billion USD), Kobkarn mentioned.

Thai government predicts that the country can earn a total revenue of 2.49 trillion baht (71 billion USD) from tourism throughout 2016.

In the press conference, Kobkarn said the government will try to develop Thailand into an hub of air transportation to attract more tourists around the world.

Source:Xinhua