Visitors participate in the Loy Krathong festival in Bangkok, Thailand, on November 19, 2021. (Photo: Xinhua/VNA) Bangkok (VNA) - The Thai government is making efforts to stimulate local tourism with hopes to see 100 million domestic trips by the end of the year, given a sharp decrease in international tourist arrivals due to COVID-19.
Rachada Dhnadirek, deputy government spokeswoman, said Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has attached great importance to promoting domestic tourism as this will generate income for businesses and spur the growth of jobs in the tourism industry, which has been severely battered by almost two years of the pandemic.
Thailand only saw about 133,000 foreign tourists visiting the country after it reopened its borders on November 1, much lower than pre-pandemic level of some 3 million tourists per month.
With foreign demand sluggish, tourism operators are now dependent on the domestic market. In the January-November period, a total of 92 million domestic trips had been recorded, generating about 650 billion THB (19.2 billion USD) in tourism income./.
