BANGKOK – After Thailand clocked up 39 million tourist arrivals on December 27, TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said he expected an even bigger year in 2020 with overall tourism revenue likely to jump by 4%, three quarters of which will come from international markets.
The strong Thai baht, Tokyo2020 Summer Olympics, World Expo 2020 Dubai and stimulus visa schemes from country competitors have also been taken into consideration when laying out our tourism marketing strategies,
"TAT's target for 2020 is based on several favourable factors, ranging from the government's stimulus measures, TAT's focussed marketing strategies and promotions of emerging destinations, new air routes and the positive outlook of international tourists to Thailand from key source markets,” Mr Yuthasak said.
TAT recognises, however, that it will need to overcome several challenges in 2020, including the effect from global trade conflicts, the rise in consumption tax in Japan, and Brexit.
“The strong Thai baht, Tokyo2020 Summer Olympics, World Expo 2020 Dubai and stimulus visa schemes from country competitors have also been taken into consideration when laying out our tourism marketing strategies," the governor added.
The Thai government has launched 16 tourism stimulus measures aimed at stimulating more inbound travel, including the opening of more VAT refund shops and counters, 24-hour cross-border tourism on the Thai-Malaysian and Thai-Lao borders during weekends and holidays, the e-visa service and exemption of the visa-on-arrival fee until April 30, 2020, and the 50% discount on airport landing fees for international flights from December 1, 2019, to April 30, 2020.
Thailand is also seeing new air routes, including Hangzhou-Chiang Rai, Sendai-Bangkok, Munich-Phuket, and Doha-Chiang Mai.
At the same time, some emerging Thai destinations have become more popular among international tourists and gained global recognition. Buri Ram ranked third on Airbnb's list of 20 trending destinations to visit in 2020, while Sukhothai has been designated by UNESCO as a 'Creative City of Crafts and Folk Art'.