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Thailand is becoming a truly holistic tourism experience for travelers from all over the world interested in the culinary offerings and historical sightseeing that the Southeast Asian country has available. The Thai government has attempted to underline some of these tourism offerings in marketing campaigns over the past few years. However, the Thai government has pointed to Chinese tourists, and Chinese women tourists in particular, as one of the most significant factors that have allowed Thailand’s tourist industry to move past its focus on sex tourism. According to Virat Chatturaputpitak, vice president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents, Thailand is a more family-oriented destination for Chinese tourists, with couples and their children traveling together. Because of this family focus, a majority of Chinese travelers coming to Thailand are women. Since 2012, the number of female Chinese tourists coming to Thailand has quadrupled to reach 5.3 million last year. These numbers mean that in 2016, almost 60 percent of the 8.7 million Chinese tourists to Thailand were women. The dominance of Chinese women traveling is not a Thailand-specific phenomenon. Overall, 56 percent of Chinese tourists are women. This may in part help explain why shopping for luxury clothing and accessories abroad at duty-free shops is such a favorite tourist activity for Chinese travelers, along with relatively lower prices. Read Original Article |
