The newly appointed governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, Yuthasak Supasorn, has said he will increase the number of tourists by ten million during the last four months of this year, beginning on September 1, the first day he takes office.
According to him, Thailand has welcomed around twenty million tourists since the beginning of this year. He also said his tourism promotion policy would restore international confidence in the Thai tourism sector.
He plans to expand community-based tourism to stimulate the grassroots economy, in line with the government’s economic policies announced earlier.
The plan to revive the tourism sector is divided into two parts. To attract overseas tourists, the TAT will focus on recovering global confidence in Thailand through marketing strategies to be implemented Sep – Oct. Expos and international events, especially sports competition, will also draw more tourists to Thailand.
For domestic tourism, he plans to carry on with the existing strategy, with a goal to rake in THB 800 billion baht for the sector. He said Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak’s newly launched policy would generate more income for low-income people, resulting in more travel.
Thai tourists normally spend around THB 1,200 per day while traveling, said the governor, adding that the TAT should organize promotional activities to entice them to travel more often.
He was also optimistic that the government’s policy to subsidize farmers and extend loans to SMEs at special low interest rates would be powerful forces to drive capital flow at community level.
