The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) has set a target of 12 to 16 million inbound tourists for 2022, after two million tourists arrived in the first half of the year.
TCT Chairman Chamnan Srisawat announced this target at the 2022 Thailand Tourism Confidence Index press conference.
"We have no choice but to maintain an ambitious target of 12 million foreign arrivals, as this is the minimum threshold needed to support the entire industry."
This target figure represents 30-40% of all international tourists who visited Thailand before the Covid-19 pandemic, and is essential to enable all Thai tourism businesses to recover and survive.
According to the report, the tourism confidence index increased in the first six months of 2022 due to positive sentiment regarding the sector's recovery following the easing of entry rules implemented on July 1.
See: Traveling to Thailand from July 1, 2022: what you need to know
Thailand's tourism industry confidence index reached 53 points in the second quarter.
In the third quarter, it is expected to reach 62 points.
According to researchers, this figure is gradually increasing, as many entrepreneurs are concerned about rising energy prices and high inflation, which is increasing their costs.
Overall, the report predicts that tourism in Thailand will generate more than 671 billion baht (18 billion euros) this year.
Thailand engaged in a 'tourism war game'
Mr. Chanchai emphasized that the private sector, regardless of its size, needed some support from various government agencies to maintain the country's competitiveness and remain a preferred destination for tourists.
For example, businesses need low-interest loan measures from the Ministry of Finance to provide liquidity for their operations, property and construction tax exemptions from the Ministry of Revenue, digital transformation assistance from the Ministry of Digital Economy, and job training sessions from the Ministry of Labor.
"We appreciate everything the government has done to help the tourism industry and businesses begin to recover," but winning this tourism war game while maintaining the competitiveness of the offering will require special synergy.
“There is still work to be done, and these tasks cannot be accomplished by one party alone,” Mr. Charnchai explained.
He also predicted that with the gradual opening of borders in countries around the world, competition in the tourism sector would be fierce.
Every country will strive to attract tourists, as it sees tourism as a quick-win strategy to generate revenue and boost its economy.
See: Competition to attract tourists between Thailand and Vietnam
According to Vichit Prakobgosol, TCT's vice president of marketing, tourism is one of the easiest ways to quickly distribute income to people.
The most pressing question right now is how to increase the number of inbound visitors.
He proposed that the government meet with travel agencies and airlines to discuss joint promotions, such as forced sales and charter flights, as well as any other measures that would make it easier to visit the country and thus increase the likelihood of more tourists coming to Thailand.
Marisa Sukosol Nunbhakdi, president of the Hotel Association of Thailand, said the country's hotels and accommodation facilities have yet to fully recover.
Therefore, they continue to need government assistance, particularly regarding exemption from property and construction taxes.
At the same time, she supported the government's efforts to promote Thailand's soft power, which includes food, fashion, cinema, fighting (traditional Thai boxing) and festivals.
All these forms of soft power will add value to Thailand's rich culture and encourage foreigners to visit the country.
See: Thailand questions use of soft power
Somchai Jearanaisilp, vice president of the TCT and chairman of the Wellness Tourism Committee, added that medical and wellness tourism could be another factor in the growth of Thailand's tourism industry.
The government should prioritize the Medical Center of Thailand, especially the training of qualified personnel with more specific expertise, continue to promote various research so that Thailand can create Thai-style medical products that are distinctive and different, support investment through the Board of Investment (BOI), and issue a policy promoting a 10-year long-stay visa for foreigners.
See: 10-year visa in Thailand will be available from September
Mr. Charnchai concluded that the country is currently engaged in a "tourism war game."
While Thai government policies and measures are geared towards welcoming tourists, many private operators and related businesses, including small hotel owners or local car rental companies, remain reluctant to provide their services.
Therefore, greater collaboration between the government sector, consulting and related businesses is needed.
Source: Asia News Network
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7 comments
7 million foreign tourists in 2022, then 10 million, then 12, and now 16 million by the end of this year 2022…
Without knowing what these last 6 months have in store for us in terms of global health, economic and political situations!!!
Thai tourism authorities and officials are back on their bad habits with the mad rush to make increasingly optimistic statements, statements based on short and medium term forecasts without really managing extra-mural parameters that they cannot control...
At most, they can "hope" for these figures in a very optimistic perspective of the global situation.
If this Russo-Ukrainian war could already find a way out and an amicable settlement to put an end to the energy price war, inflation and a second global economic crisis which is already being added, currently, to the first due to covid, it would be a glimmer of hope for Thai tourism...
Another glimmer of hope: the reopening of Chinese borders and the return of Chinese tourists to Thailand...
These are two of the many conditions that must be met to ensure that the increase in international tourist arrivals reaches the figures of 12 and 16 million arrivals in 2022, as stated by officials in early July 2022...
But, taking into account only these two elements, making a tourist forecast today is more a game of chance than mathematical probability.
This would require global political stability and a healthy intercontinental economy...
We are far from that at the moment, and that is very unfortunate!!!
All that remains is to find 12 or 13 million foreign tourists by 31/12/2022.
The next meeting of the learned will have to decide, as with everything that has gone before.
The government only noticed the positive things.
Negative perspectives are forgotten. The number is greater than the positive ones.
– The rise in airfares.
– The rise in fuel and energy prices in general.
– The war between Ukraine and Russia. Just because the war ends on July 10
– China is struggling economically. The Chinese don't have any plans to go to Thailand. They have Hainan Island.
– The BA5 variant, which will come en masse to Thailand. What will the government's attitude be?
– Animal pox?
– Others.
The government is already thinking about its unknowns and other hazards.
I bet you, damn it, there will never be 5 million real tourists in Thailand again.
The important thing is the abolition of the Thaipass and the rest that has poisoned our lives and scammed a good number of tourists with real or imaginary covid to take money from them.
After the number of arrivals, it doesn't go into our pocket, we don't really care, it's according to everyone's means and honestly, it's not so bad that there are fewer tourists, especially Chinese or Indian and especially the scum from the French suburbs, but they don't show off too much in Thailand, because the Thais defend themselves, it's not like at home.
To clarify some of the comments above, this is not a forecast, but a target.
As TCT President Chamnan Srisawat says:
"We have no choice but to maintain an ambitious target of 12 million foreign arrivals, as this is the minimum threshold needed to support the entire industry."
I suspected that they only had objectives, for lack of forecasts.
For example, a business leader will have the objective of tripling turnover when his sales director has a forecast of a strong economic recession.
But, if it pleases the banker to hear that turnover will triple... then he just has to fire the sales director.
Is that the logic of this article?
It is normal that the discourse of politicians and decision-makers must be a bearer of hope in an increasingly gloomy global context...
However, this must also be imbued with a certain dose of realism and not with a truly excessive enthusiasm which could be related to a certain cynicism, which is moreover relayed by the media.
We are bombarded with statistics, forecasts and objectives which most of the time turn out to be unrealizable and, above all, unachievable.
Only decisions concerning taxes or duties will, however, surely be promulgated for the greater "happiness" of the citizens.
Thailand, like France, is not immune to the fiscal appetite of our ingenious politicians.
Sorry if the purpose of this article was not achieved for me.