TAT to rely on quality, sustainability and IT to drive Thai economy

According to TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn, 74% of tourism revenues in 2024 or 2.29 trillion baht will come from 40.58 million foreign visitors, while Thai tourists will contribute around 805.6 billion baht from about 160.3 million domestic trips.

“Tourism could be the only engine driving the country’s economy forward next year as several agencies are estimating that the export sector will contract this year and next,” said Yuthasak on Tuesday at a meeting with TAT executives.

He went on to say that 2024 will be the starting point for building resilience in Thailand’s tourism industry in a “polycrisis” era shaped by the global economic recession, high competition in the tourism market and flight routes that have yet to be fully restored to pre-Covid levels.

“The tourism strategy in 2024 will focus on building resilience against crises, creating high-value destinations, and achieving sustainability goals,” he said.

“As Thailand is recovering (from the pandemic), other countries are doing the same thing, making the competition in the tourism market even fiercer,” he said. “We will need to establish a new tourism ecosystem that maintains a balance between economic value and sustainability to ensure continued revenue growth for the years to come.”

He added that the TAT will also use the ZEST strategy – Zero in on sustainability; Expressive and meaningful tourism; Superior quality of service and standards; and Transformation by using IT to modernise tourism facilities.

TAT executives are meeting from July 11-13 to discuss operational plans and strategies for the tourism industry for 2024 and beyond. On July 17, they will hold an event at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre in Bangkok to present the trends and strategy for the tourism industry to the public and stakeholders