40 million foreign visitors are anticipated for this year.
According to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, the government hopes to draw in an estimated 664 billion ringgit this year from Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
According to Mr. Srettha, the state has set a global goal of 2.3 trillion ringgit for about 40 million foreigners.
At the Internationale Tourismus Borse ( ITB Berlin 2024 ), the largest travel and trade fair in the world, he made the remarks during a speech on Thursday at the Amazing Thailand Networking Event.
According to him, 28 million international visitors visited the nation last year, which generated about 1.2 trillion baht.
According to the prime minister,” Tourism contributes to the market and opens up employment opportunities for a sizable percentage of the Thai populace.”
According to him, the state intends to use every means at its leisure to grow Thailand’s tourism sector.
The government is making it easier for foreign tourists to travel, with cases being momentary card deductions granted to customers from India, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Taiwan over the past five decades.
Thailand and China both signed a mutual visa exemption deal as part of these efforts, which went into effect on March 1.
The government is also in talks with Asian member countries to follow a” One Visa, Free your Destination” agreement to encourage joint local tourism and more ease cross-border travel in the region, the prime minister said. It is also pushing to achieve visa-free travel arrangement deals with Western states in the Schengen area.
Additionally, Mr. Srettha added that efforts are being made to encourage small towns in areas like Bangkok and Chiang Mai.
” In lesser-known places, there are many interesting native nations and hidden gems. The prime minister said,” We are working to promote these distinctive values and provide tourists with unique experiences in these places.”
The state is also using Thailand’s” sweet energy” or cultural heritage as a selling point to encourage the country’s distinctive and important events, he said.
He even made reference to the Songkran water festival, which Unesco just declared to be humanity’s intangible cultural heritage.
The state plans to hold World Songkran Festival events throughout the entire country starting April 1 through April 21, he said.
Mr. Srettha met with European business leaders in Paris on Friday to talk about Thailand’s potential funding options.
Sébastien Bazin, the chairman and CEO of Accor, a European foreign hospitality business that operates hotels, villas, and vacation properties in Thailand, was one of the people he met.
They discussed approaches to collaborate on tourism and plan co-promotional activities to increase sales.
The primary minister spoke with Pascal Morand, the executive director of the Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode, to discuss the possibility of making Thailand a South Asian style and design hub.