More restrictions will bring Thai tourism sector to its knees, laments TAT
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) believes that an extended lockdown period will be a blow to this year’s revenue target for the tourism sector.
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the current Covid-19 situation will make it almost impossible for the tourism sector to meet its revenue target of 850 billion baht this year.
In fact, he said, if the government expands restrictions, the sector will suffer the worst decline, earning no more than 400 billion baht, or up to 56 per cent less than the 815 billion baht earned last year.
The biggest concern, he said, is the fact that even domestic travel has come to a stop because of the surge in Covid-19 cases.
Based on the Covid situation in Thailand and overseas, TAT has come up with three possible scenarios for 2022:
• Worst-case scenario: Total revenue will stand at 1.3 trillion baht if Thailand gets 10 million foreign tourists and there are 122 million domestic trips.
• Probable scenario: Total revenue will stand at 1.58 trillion baht if there are 13 million foreign tourists and 140 million domestic trips.
• Best-case scenario: The total revenue stands at 1.93 trillion baht if there are 18 million foreign tourists and 160 domestic trips.