Thailand's new minister of tourism, sports to maintain revenue target

Thailand's newly appointed Tourism and Sports Minister Sermsak Pongpanit reaffirmed ambitions to maintain the government's 3.5 trillion baht ($99 billion) tourism revenue target this year.

The target would require 2.3 trillion baht from 40 million foreign visitors and 1.2 trillion baht from 200 to 220 million domestic trips by Thai tourists, according to Thai media.

As the Kingdom will host Southeast Asia's first Fifa World Congress in mid May, Sermsak said the ministry will promote sports tourism with the country's unique sports resources, namely the Thai martial arts.

He also revealed several measures to be taken to achieve the revenue target, such as promotions in countries with visa-free measures during the low season, and travel packages that include services in related industries such as healthcare and weddings.

Moreover, the ministry will conduct tourism campaigns and events for the high season to attract tourists from colder countries. It will also Introduce new travel destinations in less popular provinces.

"A comprehensive plan should be made to provide diversified and sufficient choice and information for travelers. Meanwhile, tourism services should also be improved to make those scattered sites easily to go," Sermsak said at a conference this week.

He also noted that special tourism campaigns should be conducted among the kingdom's major tourism resources such as China. He said some travel promotions will be released before China's Golden Week in October.

As of May 6, a total of 12.6 million foreign visitors have traveled to Thailand, generating tourist receipts worth 605.2 billion baht, according to the Ministry. Chinese tourists hold the largest amount with a total of nearly 2.5 million.

Thailand's Kasikorn Research Center estimated that hotel occupancy rates in the country will be around 70 percent this year due to the increase of tourists. It showed that foreign tourists usually stayed in the country for 10.2 days on average, a day more than that in 2019.

The center's recent report anticipated that income generated from the hotel accommodation industry will reach 950 billion baht this year, a year-on-year surge of 16 percent. It said the revenue will also help to boost the income of local people related to the travel industry.

To generate more tourism income, the Tourism Authority of Thailand has been promoting tourism in second-tier cities over the past months. Thapanee Kiatphaibool, governor of TAT, said the agency would launch campaigns to boost domestic tourism during the low season.