Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Yuthasak Supasorn (Source: thepattayanews.com) Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand will focus on developing responsible tourism with the aim of fulfilling the target of a 10 percent growth rate and 3.71 trillion baht (120 billion USD) in revenue in 2020, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Governor Yuthasak Supasorn has said.
Yuthasak had a meeting with chief representatives of overseas TAT offices on July 8 to discuss strategic plans for each market to ensure the total revenue from foreign tourists to reach 2.43 trillion baht next year. In the first six months of this year, the country welcomed 19.6 million international tourist arrivals and earned 1.01 trillion baht from tourism services.
China is the largest market of the Thai tourism sector, contributing nearly 10 million among over 38 million foreign tourists to the country in 2018.
However, the number of Chinese tourists to Thailand reported a year-on-year decrease of 4.3 percent to 4.8 million arrivals in the first half of 2019.
Most recently, TAT lowered the forecast number of international tourists for 2019 from 41.1-41.3 million arrivals to 40.2 million arrivals, and the forecast revenue growth rate from 10 percent to 9.5 percent.
The sector’s revenue is estimated to reach 3.38 trillion baht this year, of which 2.21 trillion baht was earned from foreign visitors.
According to the TAT Governor, in the foreign markets, TAT will focus on specific quality markets and middle-upper income groups, and will seek first-time visitors in new markets and in the long-standing source markets. It will also attempt to balance out the seasonality factor and generate more demand in the “Green Season” (rainy season).
Alongside efforts to build a strong image of Thailand in order to maintain its competitive advantages, other products will be developed and marketed such as homestays, walking streets and local cuisine. Meanwhile, digital technology will be devised to reach the customers.-VNA
VNA
