Illustrative photo (Source: VTV) Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s Ministry of Tourism& Sports has unveiled that it will spend about 120 million THB (3.9 millionUSD) on promoting tourism to achieve a growth rate of at least 7 percent thisyear.
Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said the sum willbe spent on stimulation projects. It will also be added to a plan of handingout 1,000 THB to each Thai citizen to spend on tourism, which is a measure ofthe Finance Ministry.
Phiphat said the budget would cover at least three measures.One of them is a project randomly selecting 10,000 lucky persons on September9, October 10, November 11, and December 12 to receive tourism packages thatcost only 100 THB each. Meanwhile, the ministry will also develop an e-walletapplication for tourists to use during their trips, which gives them 15-percentcash back.
The minister added that he would continue to push for entryvisa exemption for tourists from China and India although the Cabinet hasalready rejected the idea.
Phiphat said with confidence that the goal of having 40million foreign tourists visiting the kingdom this year would be within reach.The tourists would spend around 3.37 trillion THB in Thailand, he added.
Tourism revenue from foreign arrivals makes up about 12percent of Thailand’s GDP. However, in the first six months of 2019, the numberof visitors to the country inched up just 1.4 percent due to a drop in thenumber of Chinese tourists.-VNA
VNA
