THAILAND’s travel and tourism sector is expected to benefit from economic growth in the country and promotional activities by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
Domestic tourist volumes are expected to increase at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.13 per cent to reach 73.8 million trips in 2017. For the same time, inbound tourist arrivals will grow at a CAGR of 8.79 per cent to reach 34.0 million, according to Timetric, an online data provider.
An increasing demand for air transport has encouraged the government to improve existing airport infrastructure. A development plan at Thailand’s busiest airport, Suvarnabhumi International Airport in Bangkok, is under way. The project is expected to improve the airport’s passenger handling capacity.
The hotel industry in Thailand is planning new establishments and renovating existing ones. A rise in tourist volumes and competitive pricing of accommodation is expected to increase total hotel revenues to 406.9 billion baht ($13 billion) by 2017, according to Timetric.
Continuous efforts by the government to promote Thailand as an attractive tourist destination have boosted the industry. According to the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index for 2013, Thailand ranks 11th out of 140 countries in terms of destination marketing.
The TAT announced an Action Plan for 2014 targeting 28.01 million international tourist arrivals, generating estimated foreign exchange revenue of 1.326 trillion baht ($42.25 billion), up 13 per cent over 2013. For the domestic market, TAT set a target of 136.8 million trips, generating estimated of 700 billion baht for tourism income, up by nine per cent over 2013. These figures indicate that for the first time in the history of Thai tourism, the TAT is target total earnings of two trillion baht from both domestic and foreign visitors.
TAT Governor Suraphon Svetasreni says, “Finalising the 2014 marketing plan has been a particularly challenging exercise in view of all the phenomenal and monumental changes taking place both worldwide, regionally, and locally within Thailand, in customer demographics as well as the way the industry does business.
“Because Thailand is blessed with an unmatched geographical advantage, and numerous other strengths which have served us well over the years, we had to find ways of adapting our strategies to take advantage of our strengths and address some of the looming weaknesses. We think this plan does that.” He adds that “Thainess” and “balance” will be the key words driving strategies in the future.