Private sector hopeful that tourism will continue to grow

The Airlines Association of Thailand expects tourism-related industries to grow in the second half of this year, provided no negative factors crop up that would significantly affect people’s travel plans, and the government continues to roll out supporting measures. 

Association president Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth said on Thursday that based on the number of foreign arrivals of 14.76 million in the first five months of 2024, an increase of 38% year on year, the tourism sector should meet the government’s target of generating 3.5 trillion baht in revenue. 

“The government needs to continue its efforts to promote tourism by rolling out campaigns with tangible impacts, such as expanding the visa-free policy to cover more countries and promoting tourism in secondary provinces,” said Puttipong, who is chief executive officer of Bangkok Airways Plc.

He added that Bangkok Airways’ reservations for trips from June to December 2024 had grown 13% year on year, with most travellers booking their flights to Thailand in the 4th quarter or during high season, which saw a 35% jump over 2023.

“We are expecting higher demand and are therefore planning to procure two Airbus A319s to add to our current fleet of 24 planes within this year,” added Puttipong.

Meanwhile, Asset World Corp (AWC), one of Thailand's largest hospitality and property developers, reported strong demand for hotel reservations in the second half of the year, and expects the occupancy rate in the 4th quarter to exceed 70%. 

“Thailand’s tourism industry this year is growing by leaps and bounds, which has greatly benefited AWC’s 22 hotels with combined rooms of 6,029,” said the company’s CEO Wallapa Traisorat. “Even during the low season, we are still seeing reservations from Middle-Eastern tourists who have higher spending power.”

Wallapa added that Thailand's tourism sector has several ‘wow’ factors that attract visitors from around the world including unique cuisine, lively festivals and high-quality infrastructure.

“From discussions with our hotel chain partners, it's clear that Thailand is the highlight of the global tourism scene. This has a positive impact on the growth and expansion of the hotel business,” she said.

Thienprasit Chaiyapatranun, president of the Thai Hotels Association (THA), added that hotel reservations in the second half of the year should continue to improve over the first half as well as from the previous year.

“Thanks to online travel platforms, travellers are finding it even easier to make last-minute bookings although that also makes it harder for hotel entrepreneurs to predict reservations in advance,” he said.

“During the low season in the 3rd quarter, visitors from Southeast Asian countries generally become the majority of foreign arrivals thanks to shorter travel distances. Hotel operators need to use promotional campaigns to attract them to stay longer to fill the drop in revenue before high season kicks in,” said Thienprasit.