Thailand's tourist arrivals up 4.8% to 3.1m in July

Tourism receipts in July reached US$4.7b.

Tourist arrivals to Thailand rose 4.8% YoY to 3.1 million in July, generating over US$4.7b (THB156b) in tourism receipts, higher 6.2%.

According to Maybank, all markets were up. The number of Chinese tourists grew 8.4% YoY.

Arrivals from the US grew 6.6%, South Korea by 3.6%, Russia by 16.2%, and India by 16.4%.

Revenue per available room (RevPAR) climbed 2.4% YoY on the back of room-rate growth of 2.8%. However, occupancy dipped 0.3% to 78.7% due to a 6.6% supply growth that topped tourist-traffic growth.

RevPAR in Bangkok alone widened 0.7%.

Here's more from Maybank:
According to the Bank of Thailand, 3-month advance bookings were down 2% MoM but up 2% YoY in June. This was their highest growth in FY17, potentially supporting a tourism recovery in 3Q17. We think hotel operators will raise their room rates in 2H17.

On the domestic travel tax break, we think government approval is likely, as domestic consumption remains sluggish. This should be the easiest way for the government to stimulate domestic spending. However, we think it may focus on secondary cities rather than the main tourist destinations.