National parks are among places affected by an absence of tourists due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation has reported some 900 million baht in loss in revenue at national parks nationwide from October 2019 to September 2020.
The Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation’s (DNP) Deputy Director General Chongklai Voraphongston, disclosed that the total number of national park visitors this year has fallen to only 13.9 million, from the previous 20.8 million figure in 2019, due to the closure of national parks from 1st April to 1st July this year due to the COVID-19 threat.
The drop in visitor numbers has led to a drop in revenue to only 1.365 billion baht, far less than fiscal year 2019’s revenue of 2.258 billion baht.
The DNP deputy chief said however, the lower number of visitors to national parks is beneficial to the wildlife and the environment, and allows the national parks time to improve the facilities, tourism routes, and visitor services such as advance online reservations for visits to comply with the capacity control policy.
The DNP has reported only 50 million baht in revenue from national park admissions. The department expects the number of visitors will improve from November to January next year, especially in the northern region like Chiang Mai where people usually flock to enjoy the winter breeze at Natural tourism attractions. (NNT)
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