Thailand may record slightly more than 10 million foreign tourist arrivals this year, the tourism minister said on Friday, as a vital industry has recovered from the impact of the pandemic.
There have been about 5.8 million foreign arrivals since the start of the year, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn told a seminar.
According to a previous estimation by Reuters, Thailand was aiming 5 million to 15 million foreign tourist arrivals this year. As, the Southeast Asian country removed on-arrival COVID-19 tests from May 1. The latest measure aimed at reviving its battered tourism industry which generally accounts for about 12% of gross domestic product.
Tourists are expected to spend between 630 billion baht ($18.35 billion) and 1.2 trillion baht this year, government spokesperson Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said in a statement, citing the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s projection.
The predicted tourist numbers would be a substantial improvement on the 428,000 foreign arrivals in 2021. However, still far short of the nearly 40 million visitors in 2019 who spent about 1.91 trillion baht.
From January to April, Thailand received 742,386 foreign tourists and the number is expected to rise significantly, Thanakorn said.
In a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, an economic task force approved extending support for the domestic travel industry to September from May. Including a 40% government subsidy on another 1 million room nights.
Domestic tourism was expected to generate about 660 billion baht according to estimation at the beginning of the year. The tourism industry, however, may not return to pre-pandemic levels until 2026, according to Bank of Thailand Governor Sethaput Suthiwartnarueput.
