Achieving PM’s target tourism revenue ‘worrying’, says Sermsak

Thailand has a long way to go to achieve the target of 3.5 trillion-baht tourism revenue in 2024 set down by Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, thus all parties must cooperate to make it happen, Tourism and Sports Minister Sermsak Pongpanich said on Monday.

In his keynote speech titled “Thailand’s tourism direction and the government’s promotional policies” at the annual conference of the Thai Hotels Association, Sermsak said that in the first five months of this year, Thailand has welcomed some 15 million foreign tourists and generated 1.1 trillion baht in revenue.

“To achieve the goal of 3.5 trillion baht revenue, it is estimated that we need 36.7 million foreign tourists this year. This means that we have 21.7 million foreign tourists and 2.4 trillion baht to go,” he said.

The minister admitted he was worried about achieving this challenging target, which will require collective effort from every party involved.

“Although I am worried about this goal, I am still committed to pursuing it wholeheartedly,” he said. “That is why I am here today to listen to problems faced by the hotel sector, so we can coordinate our efforts and resolve the issues together, enabling us to achieve the shared goal.”

Last week, Sermsak promised a crackdown on Chinese companies offering cheap tour packages, a concern raised by Association of Thai Travel Agents that these operators are monopolising visitors from China.

Sermsak said these companies used Thai nominees to establish tour companies in the kingdom, in violation of the Foreign Business Act which stipulates that tour guide is a profession reserved for Thai nationals only.