Five-year tourism plan
THE TOURISM Council of Thailand says it is on track to draft a five-year tourism plan starting next year that aims to offer new attractions under eight clusters to international markets.
The draft of the five-year plan will be proposed to the government as part of 12th National Economic and Social Development Plan 2017-2021, TCT president Ittirit Kinglake said.
The TCT organised a workshop in Bangkok and Kanchanaburi last week to promote the plan, and plans to hold seven more workshops before the end of next month.
Ittirit said the plan should be finalised by April.
He said the council would collect tourism data from the public and private sector including small operators.
The country should have |more products to lure repeat |visitors to the country and attract first-time travellers here.
He said the council would focus on promoting attractions in the eight clusters under a Mekong region theme. The clusters are the Lanna culture, south Isan, the Thai culture, the Chao Phraya River, the east of the Gulf, the west of the Gulf and the Andaman coast.
“We aim to promote eight clusters as new preferred destinations for the international market and also to attract local travellers,” Ittirit added.
The TCT has also outlined other development plans for next five years such as improving infrastructure and transportation to lure more tourists, revise regulations to attract more visitors, and promote intra and cross-border tourism.
The TCT urged the government to improve the country’s aviation safety to meet international standards in order to improve Thailand’s image.
He is also concerned about the impact the country’s severe drought is having on the industry.
