3 weeks ago
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October 23, 2024 | 06:45 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Thailand faces a major challenge in encouraging domestic tourism despite attracting 21.7 million foreign tourists from January to August 2024, the highest among Southeast Asian countries. The Thai government is actively working to incentivize its citizens to explore their own country.
As reported by Vn Express on Wednesday, October 23, the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports plans to increase subsidies for local tourists in the upcoming stimulus scheme to a maximum of 50 percent, as announced by Tourism and Sports Minister Sorawong Thienthong.
“Personally, I’d like the subsidy from the government to increase from 40% in the previous five phases to 50%. If possible, we’d like to start earlier to stimulate the economy via tourism expenditure as soon as possible,” said Sorawong as reported by Bangkok Post.
The ministry also intends to revise the criteria for online travel agents, requiring them to register in Thailand to prevent revenue leakage.
Introducing a New Subsidy Scheme
Sorawong added that the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is currently developing new joint payment scheme criteria to further subsidize tourism costs for locals. These criteria must be adjusted to generate an economic impact that is 5-10 percent higher than the previous scheme.
According to TAT, the previous tourism subsidy program had a significant economic impact of approximately 58.6 billion baht or roughly Rp2.7 trillion.
The ministry will launch a new tourism support program during the off-season (May-October) of next year. However, there is a possibility that this scheme may commence earlier, perhaps in early 2025, as suggested by the private sector.
Limiting Foreign Travel Agents
Sorawong indicated that the ministry will also review TAT's plan next month and aims to present the project to the cabinet in January 2025. He added that TAT is also tasked with considering mechanisms to avoid excessive dependence on foreign online travel agents (OTAs).
Based on discussions with hotel operators, the previous stimulus program, which allowed foreign OTAs to become official platforms, was perceived as unfair to local businesses, as many of them were not registered in Thailand. Consequently, a large portion of the subsidies collected from hotels, ranging from 25-30 percent, flowed out of the country.
Thailand will prioritize domestic tourism later this year through initiatives like the Winter Festival. This festival features various events such as the Loy Krathong Festival, Chao Phraya Art Festival, and collaborations with the private sector for promotions, sports events, music festivals, and traditional festivals nationwide. The goal is to boost domestic tourism revenue closer to the target of 1 trillion baht or Rp463 trillion for this year.
VN EXPRESS | BANGKOK POST
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