Foreign tourists in Bangkok, Thailand. (Photo: VNA) Bangkok (VNA) - The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has unveiled its direction for fiscal 2024 with a budget of 5 billion THB (144.2 million USD), which intends to grow off-peak customers, increase spending per trip by 7%, and distribute income to a greater variety of destinations.
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said fairness in revenue distribution through a "sharing economy" and making Thailand a "Tourism for All" destination will be key strategies for the next fiscal year when it starts in October this year.
The TAT expects Thailand's tourism revenue next year to fully recover to the 2019 level of 3 trillion THB. However, Yuthasak said the TAT hopes to see better distribution of tourists to secondary provinces and improved dispersal of tourists from high season to the whole year.
He said lessons learned from the pandemic helped the TAT formulate a new plan for next year as well as implement crisis management for possible contingencies in the future, the Bangkok Post reported.
According to Yuthasak, the industry should build "tourism security" to make itself resilient through a four-step development combining the public and private sectors. The first measure involves strengthening the supply chain by deciding which products and services must be upgraded to match demand, while local communities should be developed to receive a greater amount of tourists through more distribution channels.
Support and infrastructure for tourist services must be built to improve their safety and ease of travel while in Thailand, he said, adding that it is essential for the country to adopt safety standards that apply to all segments, especially for people with disabilities.
Enhancing the digital transformation can help to maximise tourism revenue, said Yuthasak.
He said that factors such as natural disasters, a pandemic, or a global recession are out of the industry's control, so regulators should prepare for external risks by installing management plans.
The TAT is scheduled to discuss the implementation of the 2024 plan during its annual meeting from July 11-13 in Pattaya./.
