UAE visitors spend an estimated Dh851 million in July and August.
Dubai: Thailand welcomed more than 89,000 Emirati tourists in July and August, as travel from the UAE surged during the peak summer holiday season. Visitors from the UAE accounted for around one-third of all Middle Eastern arrivals during the period, according to data from the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
A total of 89,057 Emirati tourists visited Thailand over the two months, with 46,540 arrivals recorded in July and 42,517 in August. This worked out to an average of approximately 1,436 UAE visitors per day during the period.
Daily arrivals averaged around 1,501 UAE tourists in July before easing to about 1,372 visitors per day in August, according to Emarat Al Youm.
July recorded the higher number of Emirati arrivals, with UAE tourists making up 33.24 per cent of the 140,026 visitors who travelled to Thailand from the Middle East that month. In other words, roughly one in three Middle Eastern tourists arriving in Thailand in July came from the UAE.
The number of Emirati visitors in July was also 22.13 per cent higher compared with the same month in 2025, when Thailand welcomed 38,107 tourists from the UAE.
The strong momentum continued into August. Although the number of Emirati arrivals eased from July’s peak, UAE travellers accounted for an even greater share of Thailand’s Middle Eastern tourism market.
Thailand welcomed 123,887 visitors from the Middle East in August, including 42,517 Emiratis. This gave UAE tourists a 34.32 per cent share of regional arrivals — once again representing more than one in every three Middle Eastern visitors.
August arrivals from the UAE were also 47.72 per cent higher than the 28,781 Emirati tourists recorded during the same month in 2025.
Combined, July and August saw 263,913 tourists from the Middle East visit Thailand, of whom 89,057 were UAE nationals. Emirati travellers therefore represented 33.75 per cent of all Middle Eastern arrivals during the two-month period.
The UAE’s share of the regional market also increased slightly, from 33.24 per cent in July to 34.32 per cent in August, despite the overall number of Emirati tourists declining month on month.
Figures from the Tourism Authority of Thailand also showed that the UAE was Thailand’s largest source market for tourists from the Middle East in both July and August.
126,000 UAE tourists visit Thailand in eight months
The summer travel surge accounted for a significant share of Emirati visits to Thailand so far this year.
Between January and August 2026, Thailand welcomed 126,378 tourists from the UAE, accounting for around 27.04 per cent of the 467,394 Middle Eastern visitors recorded during the same period.
Of the total UAE arrivals in the first eight months of the year, 89,057 travelled to Thailand in July and August alone. This means the two peak summer months accounted for approximately 70.47 per cent of all Emirati visitors during the January-to-August period.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has previously identified the UAE as one of its key tourism markets in the Middle East and Gulf region, highlighting both the number of visitors and their relatively high spending levels.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand has highlighted the strategic importance of the UAE market, driven not only by strong visitor numbers but also by demand for luxury, personalised and higher-value travel experiences.
UAE tourists’ spending estimated at Dh851 million
Official tourism data for 2025 show that Emirati visitors spend an average of around 11.1 days in Thailand and approximately Dh9,558 per trip.
Applying those averages to the 89,057 UAE tourists who visited Thailand in July and August 2026 puts their estimated combined tourism spending at about Dh851 million.
Based on the same average length of stay, Emirati travellers are estimated to have generated approximately 988,500 visitor nights in Thailand during the two-month period.
For the first eight months of 2026, the 126,378 Emirati tourists recorded by Thailand would translate into estimated spending of around Dh1.21 billion, based on the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s 2025 average expenditure figures.
Their visits would also account for roughly 1.4 million visitor nights, using the average stay of 11.1 days per traveller.
