The government has announced that Thailand has welcomed 15 million foreign visitors within the first seven months of 2023, citing successful campaigns by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the government’s attractive policy to international filmmakers.
Deputy Government Spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek said the country received more than 15 million international visitors from January to July of this year. She cited various factors that contributed to the increase in tourist numbers, including summer vacations for schools in other countries and the successful promotion of TAT’s new campaign “Amazing Thailand Health and Wellness: New Chapters, New Experience.”
Rachada stated that Thailand has also been a popular place for filmmaking this year, with the Department of Tourism’s Thailand Film Office (TFO) reporting that 246 productions from 32 countries used Thailand as a filming location in the first half of 2023. This is due to the government offering incentives for international producers to choose Thailand as their shooting location, such as a 15%-20% cash rebate for those that invest at least 50 million baht while filming in Thailand.
According to reports by the Thailand Film Office, the United States invested 519 million baht spent on 14 projects, followed by China with 349 million baht on 17 projects. Hong Kong spent 328 million baht spent on 11 projects, while the United Kingdom spent 261 million baht spent on 19 projects, and Germany with 201 million baht on 11 filmmaking projects.
Rachada said that TAT forecasts three trillion baht in tourism revenue next year, with 1.92 trillion baht from overseas travelers and 1.08 trillion baht from domestic tourists. TAT also aims to promote local attractions in all regions in order to distribute income throughout the country. (NNT)
