Rolling out the welcome mat for big spenders 

But Supawan Thanomkiatphum, president of the Thai Hotels Association and the owner of The Twin Towers Hotel in Bangkok, said it might take years to transform the hospitality industry from mass tourism to a quality-tourism destination as prolonged problems needed to be tackled through cooperation by many stakeholders. 
Major problems include illegal hotels and other businesses in the sector, zero-dollar tours from China, and low competitiveness in the industry, Supawan said.
However, he believes that cracking down on non-registered hotels and zero-dollar tours from China would help many operators, especially in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Pattaya, Hua Hin and Phuket, have more chance to get big-spending tourists after suffering from price war for years.
Tourism is very sensitive to violence, political issues, terrorism, and disasters. The industry can also affected by changes in tourist behaviour. Switching from long-term to short-notice travel plans means tourists can travel more often but for a shorter length of time.
“Tourism business in 2017 will be stable rather than enjoy rapid growth because the sector is very difficult to predict as a long-term prospect,” Supawan said. According to THA, the average room rate at hotels in Bangkok in 2016 was US$150 (Bt5,250) per night, remaining lower than Singapore and Hong Kong (Bt8,750) but better than Malaysia and Indonesia (Bt4,550).
William J Haandrikman, general manager at Sofitel Hotel Sukhumvit, said hotels in Bangkok would bounce back after a drop in business for a month in final quarter of 2016. Judging by major events that had rescheduled for hotels in Bangkok, advance bookings, and new hotels openings, he is confident that tourism and the hotel sector will return to normal soon.
Anthony Lark, general manager of Trisara Phuket and president of the Phuket Hotels Association, said there were plans to promote Phuket as a truly word-class destination by leveraging its strength as a great place to visit with warm touch of Thai hospitality – not just a beach, bar, and water-sports location.
“Thailand is a great place to visit and also the best place to do hotel business due to the unique Thai hospitality. The association and government bodies are trying to build a positive image [of the destination] in order to lure more quality tourist as the island now offers many high-end products such as medical services, yachting, private jets, luxury hotels, cruises, and sports,” he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Tanasak Patimapragorn earlier said the National Tourism Policy Committee had set a new four-year tourism plan and had established a committee to organise a series of training exercises for the sector, including for tour guides and tour operators as well as service providers. 
The programme aims to provide training to more than 107,020 people, with more than 10,000 tourism operators expected to get a quality certification this quarter. The training programme is part of national tourism policy that aims to enhance the sector’s competitiveness as the government wants to shift up from mass to quality tourism. 
In recent months, the government has cracked down on illegal businesses in the sector, tour operators, tourist guides, and non-registered hotels in major tourist |destinations including Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Prachuap Khiri Khan and Phetchaburi.