Association seeks compensation package for tour operators
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha met with the Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) on Thursday (April 30) to discuss measures to help operators and employees in the tourism industry, ATTA president Wichit Prakorbkosol said on Friday (May 1).
“The meeting was informal and lasted roughly one hour,” he said. “During the session, the association presented four proposals to help travel businesses affected by Covid-19 situations as follows:
▪︎ Consider paying compensation to employees of tourism businesses that had to close due to Covid-19 for more than three months, as it is not clear when the industry will recover. Currently the Social Security Office provides a compensation of 62 per cent of daily wages (based on a maximum Bt15,000 salary) for 90 days to employees who had to temporarily stop working.
▪︎ Provide additional low interest loans of Bt10 billion to tourism operators, as the Bt10 billion previously granted by the government was inadequate for affected operators nationwide.
▪︎ When the situation improves, domestic travel will be able to recover first, but most customers will still be affected by the economic impact. Therefore, the government should have state agencies, state enterprises and local administration offices organise meetings, seminars and similar activities through members of ATTA to promote domestic tourism and provide business to the operators.
▪︎ Consider lowering or waiving 7 per cent VAT for inbound and outbound tour operators.