Easing visa restrictions may bring Thailand closer to tourism target
Thailand’s tourism industry may not achieve the 1.5-trillion-baht revenue target that the Tourism and Sports Ministry had set for this year.
Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said on Monday that the ministry recently adjusted the tourism target to 1.08 trillion baht based on the current trend of tourists. This would be equivalent to 6 per cent of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
He expects Thailand to welcome 10 million foreign tourists this year, while local tourists are expected to make some 120 million trips.
Foreign arrivals will generate 670 billion baht in revenue, while 410 billion baht will come from Thai tourists, he said.
“As of September 17, Thailand has welcomed 5.43 million foreign tourists,” Phiphat said. “We estimate there will be some 1.5 million foreign arrivals each month in the last quarter of this year, which will help meet the target of 10 million tourists.”
The ministry initially set a target of 1.5 trillion baht in tourism revenue for this year but adjusted it down to 1.2 trillion baht mid-year after realising that there were far few bookings from far-flung countries.
In the last quarter, the following measures are expected to attract more foreigners: reduction of the Long-Term Resident (LTR) visa fee from 100,000 baht to 50,000 baht, extending visa on arrival from 15 days to 30 days and allowing visitors from visa-exempt countries to stay for 45 days instead of 30 days.
