The Thai Tourism Authority (TAT) has launched a new campaign called Discover Thainess which recommends 12 potential cities that tourists can not miss when they visit the country.

TAT Governor Thawatchai Arunyik was quoted by The Nation as saying that this campaign is part of the authority's "Fall in Love with Thailand " theme for 2015, created to promote secondary destinations and boost domestic tourism next year as well.

The 12 provinces mentioned in the campaign includes Lampang, Phetchabun, Nan, Buri Ram, Loei, Samut Songkhram, Ratchaburi, Trat, Chanthaburi, Trang, Chumphon, and Nakhon Si Thammarat.

For many decades, the Thai tourism has only been promoted in six key cities, including Bangkok , Phuket, Pattaya, Samui, Chiang Mai and Hun Hin-Cha Am.

TAT expected local travellers to take 148 million trips next year, a 9.5 percent increase from this year's projection of 136 million trips. Domestic tourism has been suffering since the military takeover in May, but TAT hopes the industry will rebound in the final quarter.

The agency predicted that the local tourism could generate about 700 billion THB this year, and see 14 percent growth to 800 billion THB next year. 

According to the Thai Hotels Association, tour operators in major destinations have received a lot of bookings, especially during the year-end, as the government has announced extra holidays for the new year. Many of the operators who focus on the domestic market will likely achieve almost 100 percent occupancy during this period.-VNA