BANGKOK, 5 Mar 2015, The domestic tourism sector might grow less than 10% growth during this year’s Songkran holiday as earlier predicted, thanks to the slowing economy, says the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
TAT’s Deputy Director on Domestic Marketing Anuphab Theerarat said yesterday that his office was collecting information on passenger bookings for the upcoming Songkran festival from airlines, coach and train services operators, as well as accommodation providers.
Despite the slowing economy, Mr. Anuphab is confident that there will be some growth, given the long holiday is the usual time for the locals to visit their families or friends.
According to a poll conducted by the National Statistical Office, 39.1% of the 63,060 people interviewed traveled to visit relatives during the festival last year, 37.2% traveled for religious reasons, and 31.6% made a journey for recreation purposes. TAT also revealed that the most favorite destination among local tourists are Northeastern provinces, at 30.4%; followed by provinces in the Central region, the capital, the Eastern region, the upper Northern Region, the lower part of the North and the Southern Region, respectively.
