BANGKOK — Thailand has seen an enormous number of foreign tourists in the first half of the year (January 1 – June 16, 2567), substantially boosting the country’s revenue by around 1.1 trillion baht ($30 billion).
Regarding this year’s tourism revenue goal of 3.5 trillion baht ($95 billion), with 36.7 million foreign tourists expected, Minister of Tourism and Sports Sermsak Pongpanich expressed serious concerns about reaching the target.
The Ministry, therefore, implemented the tourism policy of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to stimulate the market in the latter half of the year, particularly during the peak season, to generate an additional 2.4 trillion baht in tourism revenue and attract an extra 21.7 million foreign tourists to Thailand.
Up to 3 trillion baht is possible
The Chairman of Smart Tourism and Chairman of the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), Kitti Pornsiwajkit, who is also a member of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), estimated that Thailand has already reached the target of 17.5 million tourists in the first half of the year (January 1 – June 30, 2567). However, looking at the latter half of the year, Thailand’s tourism situation remains highly challenging, potentially leading to three scenarios:
- Worst Case: estimated total revenue of 2.7 trillion baht ($73 billion), with 36 million foreign tourists generating 1.7 trillion baht and 200 million domestic Thai tourists contributing 0.9 trillion baht.
- Base Case: estimated total revenue of 3 trillion baht ($81.5 billion), with 38 million foreign tourists generating 1.9 trillion baht and 220 million domestic Thai tourists contributing 1.1 trillion baht.
- Best Case: estimated total revenue of 3.5 trillion baht ($95 billion), with 40 million foreign tourists generating 2.24 trillion baht and 229 million domestic Thai tourists contributing 1.26 trillion baht.
President of the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) Chamnan Srisawat informed “Prachachat Business” that the TCT estimated total revenue could reach 2.7 trillion baht in the Worst case scenario, with 36 million foreign tourists possible. In the Best case scenario, revenue could reach 3 trillion baht with 38 million tourists, and the domestic Thai tourism market could see 220 million trips per year.
6 Strategies to Pump ฿3.5 Trillion
Chamnarn stated that the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is confident that global demand will drive the country’s tourism sector to generate up to 3.5 trillion baht as the government targets. Therefore, he proposed six strategies to drive the tourism sector towards the Best Case scenario, achieving revenue of 3.5 trillion baht.
1. Establish the Thailand Team by proposing that TAT use its 29 international offices, collaborate with knowledgeable partners in every market, and accelerate marketing activities aggressively during the post-pandemic recovery phase.
This seeks to quickly draw 4 million tourists and strengthen marketing activities in potential markets such as Central Asia, India, China, and Chinese descendants in Singapore, Hong Kong, ASEAN, and Australia, in order to boost the duration of stay and expenditure per trip.
“Currently, Central Asian tourists spend an average of 100,000 baht per person per trip. Accelerating the development of Arabic language infrastructure and providing training to offer information in the medical and wellness sectors will attract quality tourists. Including additional activities to improve tourist spots, health tourism, sports tourism, cultural tourism, etc., or enabling Thailand to become a world-class retirement destination, will extend the length of stay and boost tourism revenue,” he said.
2. Use airport hubs, buses, and tour companies as distribution channels to disperse tourists to various destinations to meet the policy of promoting tourist cities. The government is requested to help address issues and obstacles, such as developing public infrastructure and repairing and constructing tourist attractions, to ensure that local tourism products are ready for sale in both domestic and international markets.
3. Urgently accelerate the “Thai Market to Travel Thailand” campaign during this third quarter. For example, implement a nationwide bus tour project across all regions for three months in this third quarter, such as supporting 5,000 buses at 10,000 baht per bus. Implement a government tour project across Thailand, helping civil servants to travel on regular days or local Thai travel projects to increase tourism income during the low season.
4. Request the government to allocate a budget from the Digital Wallet project to support the tourism sector with 20% or 100,000 million baht.
5. Repair and construct tourist spots to improve the capabilities of personnel and entrepreneurs to ensure that tourists have a good experience at every step of the customer journey and become a springboard for the tourism sector to grow strong and sustainable in 2025 and following years.
6. Enhance the long-term competitiveness of tourism to push the Travel and Tourism Development Index, or TTDI, from 47th to 25th in the world, using tourism funds to repair and build infrastructure and tourist spots, upgrade standards, security, clean bathrooms, signposts, in both public and private sectors for balanced and sustainable growth.
“In the past, the government has given much attention and support, pushing for numerous mega-events, encouraging foreign film production, granting visas to 93 countries and regions, and encouraging secondary cities to become popular travel destinations through tax measures. However, I would like you to consider the five proposals from the Tourism Council. If these can be implemented, this year’s target of 3.5 trillion in revenue is certainly achievable,” Chamnarn said.
4 Countries Set to Surpass 2019 Visitor Numbers
President of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) Sittiwat Chivaratnaporn stated that the number of international tourists entering Thailand from January 1 to June 23, 2024, has reached almost 17 million. This represents the halfway point towards the target of 35 million. It is expected that more than 17 million tourists will visit in the remaining half of the year.
Particularly during the high season, the tourist season at the end of the year, it remains to be seen whether the government’s goal of 36.7 million will be reached.
“Four countries are expected to be among the top five sources of foreign visitors to Thailand this year, with trends indicating they will surpass their previous highs from 2019. These countries are Malaysia (ranked 2nd), expected to have 5 million visitors, up from 2.9 million; India (ranked 3rd), expected to have 2 million visitors, up from 1.4 million; South Korea (ranked 4th), expected to have 1.8 million visitors, up from 1.2 million; and Russia (ranked 5th), expected to have 1.8 million visitors, up from 1 million,” said Mr. Sittiwat.
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