BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand desires to earn 2 . 38 trillion baht ($64. 50 billion) in tourism income in 2023, a government official stated on Monday.
The government wants tourism next year to reach 80 percent of its 2019, pre-pandemic level, as the key growth sector can be starting to see a recovery as the pandemic helps reduce, said government spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri.
Foreign tourists are expected to bring in between 970 billion baht to 1. 5 trillion baht next year, he mentioned.
Thailand desires 1 . 5 million arrivals each month within the last quarter of 2022, said Anucha, adding September has noticed more than one million tourists so far. The government is definitely targeting 10 million visitors for the complete year.
Travel and leisure is a key drivers of Southeast Asia’s second-largest economy. In 2019, it made welcome nearly 40 mil visitors, who spent 1 . 91 trillion baht.
($1 = 36. 9000 baht)
(Reporting by Panarat Thepgumpanat; Writing by Kanupriya Kapoor; Editing simply by Christopher Cushing)