The Tourism Authority of Thailand is keeping its chin up, and has high hopes for tourism income this year. The TAT governor told the Bangkok Post today he hopes to target wealthy travellers, skilled professionals, and remote workers. The target age groups include millenials and retirees alike. He says the goal for tourism this year is to earn the country 2.4 trillion baht, 80% of what was made in 2019, by 2023.
Right now, tourism revenue is set to meet 1.28 trillion baht in 2022. The TAT says at least 626 billion baht in tourism receipts will come from at least 10 million international travel arrivals spending 62,580 baht per person on average. The TAT deputy governor of marketing for Asia and South Pacific said one population TAT is working to tap into is environmentally conscious millenials. He said another potential group that could get interested in Thai tourism is the South Korean LGBTQIA+ community, which often watches Thai gay TV dramas.
The deputy governor said in the past, movies and TV shows have inspired people abroad to visit Thailand. One example is Lost in Thailand, a Chinese movie about three Chinese men travelling in Thailand. Even though the film came out in 2012, many Chinese fans of the movie continued for years to travel to Thailand and visit places from the movie. In 2020, about 6,000 Chinese tourists a day arrived in Chiang Mai, where many of the movie’s locations are.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post | Culture Trip