TCT confident of Bt2-bn revenue

Of the 2015 revenue goal, Bt1.45 trillion is expected to come from international tourism and Bt550 billion from domestic travel.
This year, overall tourism revenue is expected to be Bt1.34 trillion, up 10.74 per cent from last year’s Bt1.21 trillion.
The TCT’s projection for 2015 comes on the back of a bright outlook for the industry at present, especially taking into account the political situation.
Greater certainty in the political scene will help boost the country’s competitiveness and also improve tourism fundamentals in the long run, starting from airport capacity, road and water transport through to tourist security issues via the launch of pro-tourism policies as part of a plan to connect the Asean region, the council said.
However, the 2015 target is also contingent on no further global crisis taking place to disrupt the tourism sector.
TCT president Piyaman Tejapaibul accepted that she regarded such an ambitious goal as too hard to achieve when the government originally set out its plan for the sector. She said she had asked “Is it a dream?” at the time of the flooding crisis, soon after the new coalition was formed last year.
But after the council held talks with the government and launched a series of workshops, the picture became clearer, she said, adding that the revenue target was possible if all parties worked cohesively.

ARRIVALS GROWING
The council chief said a good sign of things to come was the growing number of foreign tourist arrivals in the first seven months of the year, when 12.4 million people visited Thailand. Piyaman believes the country will now be able to achieve the full-year target of 21 million, up from 19.2 million last year.
In 2015, the targeted number of foreign visitors is 26.16 million, based on an annual rise of 16.8 per cent in the interim. Higher tourism revenue will also result from a rise in room rates, which need increase 15 per cent per year by 2015 to help achieve the overall revenue target, the TCT said. Room rates are far below reality when compared to other major tourist destinations in Asia, it added.
The council said Thai room rates had risen only 6 per cent over the past 12 years, which is in sharp contrast with foreign visitor numbers, which have more than doubled from 9 million to 20 million.
Currently, revenue from accommodation establishments nationwide accounts for about one-third of the Kingdom’s entire tourism revenue.
By 2015, the government hopes to be attracting more high-end foreign tourists, with the average spending per head per day rising to Bt5,310, from Bt4,187 last year. Also, the period of stay is expected to rise to 10.44 days, against 9.64 days in 2011.
The council, which comprises 76 tourism-related associations around the country and 124 tourism-related companies, also called for the government to launch mega-projects as new magnets to attract tourists after the implementation of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.
It cited by way of example projects such as the Asean Family Theme Park, Elephant World and the landscape improvement work on Ratchadamnoen Avenue. However, these these projects will be invested in by companies, not the government, the TCT said.