≡-Thailand Anticipates A Record Surge Of Indian Tourists: Forecast Reflects High Hopes – Viral of Today

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Home » TRAVEL NEWS » Thailand Anticipates A Record Surge Of Indian Tourists: Forecast Reflects High Hopes Wednesday, July 16, 2025Thai tourism is seeing a robust surge in Indian arrivals, with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) forecasting a historic 2.4 million visits for 2025. This is a new peak despite the market being quite volatile, based on outside uncertainties, for example, a recent landing accident of a flight of Air India. Despite such hiccups, the TAT remains optimistic about the prospects of the Indian market and proceeds with policies aimed at growing arrivals. Growing significance of India as a significant inbound market for Thailand presents a sea change in the national tourism environment, that of resilience and accommodative responses towards outside trends.Resilient Demand from India, Against All OddsWith 1.26 million Indian arrivals thus far, up to mid-July 2025, India emerged as Thailand’s third largest international source market, behind only Malaysia and China. Buoyant demand from India could be traced back to several advantages, including the fairly short flight of four to five hours from most major Indian cities, complemented by the convenience of visa-free travel from Thailand, which helps compress the planning cycle of Indian visitors. This travel convenience, thus, made Thailand a rising favorite not only for millennial visitors and wedding parties but even corporate visitors seeking incentive programs.The Air India crash, albeit a sad event, so far minimally impacted only the arrival of Indian tourists to Thailand. According to Siriges-a-nong Trirattanasongpol, TAT’s Director of the office for New Delhi, while the accident understandably shook some morale of Indian travellers, a few are still eager to come to Thailand off-peak. This reflects the inherent popularity of Thailand as a premier site, having rich culture, world-standard hospitality, and varied tourism attractions, which still entice Indian tourism.Stimulating Development through a 750-MillionTo offset fluctuating tourism trends, most significantly the current downturn in short-haul travel, TAT introduced a wide-based flight subsidy programme of 750 million baht designed to stimulate international tourism as well as airliner participation. It will induce about 790,000 extra visitors, mainly for targetted markets like India, which continuously registers stable demand.The programme gives direct financial rewards to airlines that target the international market, encouraging them to raise frequencies and increase connectivity to major Thai destinations. What gives the programme a distinguishing character is that a subsidy is offered to entice airlines to put on extra frequencies, which would later yield more tourism to Thailand. Thai Lion Air, Vietjet Thailand, Norse Atlantic, British Airways, ITA Airways, and United Airlines are already reported to be expressing interest in joining the programme. The 500 baht (approximately US$15) support provided for every passenger is considered a worthwhile deal for airlines that are looking to raise route frequencies and capture a larger share of the Indian tourism market.This flight subsidy initiative forms part of a broader initiative to try to stimulate the Thai tourism market, which, having temporarily taken a dip from Chinese tourism, is now focusing on India as a sustainable source of demand. TAT long-term plans for expanding tourism from India, which already surpasses short-haul markets, are equally tied to these plans for stimulus.India: Main Actor of Thailand Tourism RecoveryIndia looms large in the tourism planning of Thailand. According to TAT, India is Thailand’s third-largest source market, with a remarkable 2.45 million visits projected for 2025. This source market growth is more critical for Thailand, which continues to endure stagnation from pandemic disruption and shifting travel trends. Thailand is a favorite for Indian visitors, owing to its proximity to India, friendly visa processing, and growing direct connectivity from major Indian cities to Thai gateway cities.Several of the travellers from India are lured due to the culture, beaches, and superior resorts of Thailand. In addition, the Thai government has implemented significant measures towards catering to the growing demand from travellers from India. This includes running special campaigns for honeymoon couples, family travellers, and corporate travellers, which feature specially crafted packages that are appealing to diverse Indian preferences.Another of the most notable of these is Thai Airways’ joint initiative with the Thai government, which aims to boost tourism from India. Thai Airways already operates many of the major Indian cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and Bangalore, and is planning to expand to other regions of the country, including Noida, where a new Noida International Airport is being built. This new airport, which will be finished later this year, will provide greater connectivity to the Indian market and boost tourism to Thailand even more. An investigation is already being carried out into making direct flights from Noida to major Thai cities, particularly given that the airport is so near major attractions such as the Taj Mahal.Support for Incentive Groups and Business TravelAnother area of significant focus of TAT is the growing popularity of Thailand among Indian business travellers. Government incentives for incentive travel groups that often comprise major corporate houses will also give a boost to the further development of the Indian market. For this, TAT recently launched a 150-million-baht (some US$4.5-million) incentive group subsidy, consolidating ties between corporate India and Thailand even further.Incentive visits have been a source of tourism revenue-rich development for Thailand, as bulk company groups spend several times more than the ordinary individual visitor. TAT’s initiative to market Thailand as an alternative destination of choice for these groups, through subsidies and joint ventures with Indian companies, is bound to increase the popularity of the destination among business travellers.Tourism Vision of Thailand for the FutureThailand will diversify further its tourism range for the future. Aside from leisure travel, which remains a top priority, business, medical, and wellness tourism are all areas being planned for development. Another area for future development is weddings for Indian couples, weddings being a cultural institution for the Indian. Owing to beautiful sites, scenic backdrops, coupled with well-developed hospitality infrastructures, many Indian families are choosing Thailand for their weddings.The Thai authorities are keeping a close watch on the development of the airliner market, more particularly on the creation of new routes to meet the growing demand from Indian tourists. In addition to Thai Airways, several other airlines, such as Emirates and Qatar Airways, are increasing frequencies on major routes, therefore ensuring easy connectivity between India and Thailand.Conclusion:Promising Future for Thai-Indian Tourism Cooperation Thailand’s optimistic 2025 target of 2.4 million Indian arrivals is a testimony of Thai tourism’s vitality and resilience. Amidst several challenges thrown its way through world occurrences such as the Air India crisis, the natural strength of the Indian market stands proved. Strategical initiatives of Thailand such as the flight subsidy programme and promotional activities for incentive groups, complemented with increased connectivity from Indian cities to Thai destinations, validates Thai-Indian tourism’s bright future. Both nations will gain from this surging tourism relation, leading to more cultural exchanges and deeper economic ties. With tourism infrastructure for Thailand being revamped and new options being introduced, Indian tourists will be at the heart of recovery and development of the nation, with Thailand becoming all the more attractive for Indian tourists in the years to come.

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