There might be a silver lining to Thailand’s weakening baht for the tourism industry. The president of the Thai Hotels Association (THA) says the weakening baht is one of several factors making Thai tourism more attractive in post-pandemic times.
THA president Marissa Nunbhakdi says that now the ‘Test & Go’ and ‘Thailand Pass’ schemes have been scrapped, momentum has built up for reopening borders. She said the weak baht could help the tourism industry since tourists can spend more money in Thailand now.
Marissa noted, however, that she is not sure whether the weak baht will help offset high transportation costs. She said the spike in airfares has impacted the number of foreign tourists flying to the kingdom. Marissa said this market has remained lower than expected during the past few months.
With the US dollar strengthening and Thailand’s struggling economy, economic experts predict the baht may fall to 38 to the dollar by the end of this year. But K Bank has predicted that, as tourism brings in more revenue toward the end of the year, the baht may climb back to 35 against the dollar.
According to the Thai government, more than five million foreign tourists arrived in the ‘Land of Smiles’ between January 1 and September 8. The total number of foreign visitors was 5,018,172, said spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand estimated that the number of tourists would reach 10 million, based on advanced flights and hotel bookings for the next three months.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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