Tourism council expects up to 5.7 per cent more visitors in 2017

“The number of foreign tourists will increase in the coming year, but the growth rate will not be as high as the nearly 10 per cent that officials predicted early this year, mainly because of global economic instability and the crackdown on zero-dollar tours from China,” Ittirit Kinglake said yesterday. 
Foreign tourists are expected to generate revenue of Bt1.8 trillion in the coming year, while total tourism revenue, including the domestic market, will be Bt2.4 trillion.
The TCT also predicted that 8.1 million tourists would travel into the Kingdom during the first three months of the New Year, up 3.6 per cent from the first quarter of 2016. However, arrivals from China will likely drop by 30 per cent during the Chinese New Year from the 2016 figure of around 500,000.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand predicts that 375,500 foreign tourists will visit the country from December 31 to January 3, a 5-per-cent increase from the previous New Year period. Tourists are expected to spend Bt5.5 billion, up 12 per cent, during the period. 
A total of 65 charter flights have been confirmed to carry 16,389 passengers into the Kingdom during the festive season, while bookings on scheduled airlines have increased by 3 per cent.
The TCT urged the government to be ready for unpredictable incidents, as the tourism sector could face difficulties such as terrorism incidents.

‘Tap long haul market’
The council strongly advised the government to seek new tourist sources, especially from the long-haul market, along with promoting luxury tourism such as cruises and meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE). 
For the domestic market, tourism authorities should promote more second-tier destinations and maintain stimulus measures like the tax-deduction scheme being endorsed this month. Moreover, they may need to push niche markets such as female tourism, cross-region tourism, weekday tourism, and royal-project attractions. 
The TCT yesterday unveiled its tourism index for the final quarter of the year, showing that tourist confidence was 97, which means a normal situation. The confidence index for the first quarter of the New Year is 104, slightly higher than in the first quarter of 2016.
Suthipun Jitpimolmard, director of the Thailand Research Fund (TRF), yesterday signed a four-year cooperative agreement with the TCT on tourism research, aimed at enhancing the tourism industry and solving prolonged problems. 
The TRF has been working with the TCT for four years. The research centre is considering increasing its annual tourism-research budget from Bt100 million per year to Bt200 million.