Thailand’s tourism recovery will be complete in 2025, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) confidently predicted on Thursday, May 1.
TAT officials spoke about the future of tourism in the country at ‘Thailand Travel Mart Plus 2023’, a business-to-business tourism fair held from May 31 to June 2 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in the city of Bangkok.
Based on the country’s tourism performance since 2022, following the easing of travel restrictions imposed by Covid-19, the TAT predicts that full tourism recovery will be achieved by the end of 2024.
The benchmark remains 2019 tourist arrivals which closed at 39.92 million, the last full year before the Covid-19 pandemic halted global travel in March 2020.
Thailand is now expected to reach around 40 million tourist arrivals by the end of 2024, but the country will have lost four years to the pandemic, losses that cannot be recovered.
Marketing Plan 2024
The TAT is currently finalizing its marketing plan for 2024, which it will present to the travel industry following its week-long MAP2024 Marketing Activity Plan meeting in June.
The overall marketing strategy aims to smash the 2019 record in terms of visitor arrivals and tourism receipts to declare that business is back on track, but with some differences.
See: The Tourism Authority of Thailand forecasts 80 billion euros in revenue in 2024
TAT’s marketing plan will focus on sustainability, high value tourism and purposeful travel.
See: Thailand moving towards responsible and sustainable tourism
A new government in sight
As the country goes through a period of governmental transition following the May elections, the TAT said its plan should be flexible and adaptable to align with the policies of the new administration.
Despite the lack of clear direction from a policy standpoint, Tanes Petsuwan, TAT’s Deputy Governor for International Marketing, Asia and South Pacific, says the authority has prepared and stands ready to face any tourism situation and to engage in discussions on the future direction with the new cabinet.
“With 63 years of existence, the TAT has worked with administrations of different political parties.
On the professional level, the organization followed a strategic direction and achieved its objectives with the allocated resources”.
Meanwhile, Mr Tanes added that the TAT was closely following the formation of the new government, acknowledging that at least two key points of the memorandum of understanding signed by the eight coalition parties align with the priorities of the government. authority on sustainability and income distribution.
TTR Weekly newspaper asked TAT Deputy Governor for Marketing Communications Chattan Kunjara Na Ayudhya at the opening press conference of Thailand Travel Mart Plus 2023 what would be the key areas the authority would insist on succeed as the country’s new administration prepares to take over the country.
He has answered :
“Tourism is already a crucial part of the economy, which is why the agency (TAT) needs the new government to reaffirm that it will continue to support the tourism industry in all areas, including marketing. , brand building and tourism development, placing the tourism industry as high up in the economy as possible”.
The Thailand Travel Mart Plus 2023 rekindled confidence
TAT directors gave an update on the progress of Thailand’s tourism industry at the Thailand Travel Mart Plus (TTM+).
TTM+ attracted 374 international buyers from 50 countries, of which 42% were new buyers.
The number of buyers this year reflects a 35.5% increase from the 276 buyers who attended the event in Phuket last year.
Besides the vendors, the TAT also invited more than 20 professional visitors from Saudi Arabia, giving them first-hand experience of Thai tourism products and services, the first opportunity since the two countries restored full diplomatic and trade ties at the start. of the year.
See: Saudi Arabia has big plans with Thailand
The participation rate of TTM sellers
On the supply side, the TTM+ hosted 435 vendors, mostly in the hotel and resort categories.
This year, the national tourism organizations of Cambodia and Myanmar also participated in the fair.
This figure represents an increase of 60.7% compared to the 264 sellers present last year.
The TAT noted that the B2B platform generated 11,760 buyer-seller appointments as part of efforts to spur tourism recovery to reach 80% of international market revenue recorded in the pre-pandemic period, a target of 1.5 trillion baht by the end of the year.
The post-pandemic path
Travelers wait for their luggage on a carousel at Suvarnabhumi Airport. Photo: Somchai Poomlard
In the post-pandemic period, the TAT has set itself the goal of recovering 50% in 2022, 80% in 2023 and 100% in 2024.
Restoring flight capability is one of the critical factors.
According to the TAT, the overall percentage of resumption of flights to Thailand is 70% compared to the year before the pandemic.
In China alone, flights in June reached 90% compared to 2019.
This year, the TAT is aiming for a possible “baseline scenario” of 25 million visitor arrivals.
From January 1 to May 27, Thailand received 10,378,457 international arrivals generating 428 billion baht.
The top five tourist markets were Malaysia (1,606,373), China (1,098,604), Russia (734,995), South Korea (627,760) and India (583,319).
To achieve the year-end target, TAT will continue to implement activities aligned with the communication theme “Visiting Thailand in 2023: Amazing New Chapters”.
Satellite activities
For the first time, the TAT organized satellite activities on the sidelines of the TTM+.
These activities included a domestic travel fair promoting travel to different regions.
It also introduced “Thailand’s Amazing Culinary City” to boost food tourism by bringing food tourism providers together to showcase their products and services to international buyers and consumers.
See: Thailand wants to develop gastronomic tourism
Mr. Chattan said:
“The TAT shows that Thailand offers meaningful travel that enhances the visitor experience.
By encompassing discovery, transformation, nurturing and engagement between people, cultures and nature, this underscores TAT’s focus on making Thailand a destination for the protection of vast natural and scenic beauty. of the country and to launch a series of environmental initiatives”.
See as well :
Thailand’s tourism industry calls for emergency measures
Source: TTRW
