Thailand sets target of 40m foreign tourists, 2.8 trn baht in 2025
Luxury spending expected to drive up revenue by 7.5% next year, though recovery to pre-pandemic level remains elusive amid competition from Japan
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) aims to attract 40 million foreign visitors in 2025, generating 2.8 trillion baht in revenue, Tourism and Sports Minister Sorawong Thienthong announced on Tuesday.
The government is depending on its “Amazing Thailand Grand Tourism and Sports Year 2025” campaign to achieve the 7.5% rise on 2024 tourism revenue.
Sorawong noted the target was still lower than the 3-trillion-baht revenue achieved in the pre-pandemic era. He blamed economic challenges and intense tourism competition from countries such as Japan, where the weak yen is attracting visitors.
Sorawong said that achieving the goal of 40 million foreign visitors would be a first for Thai tourism. The target for domestic tourism in 2025 has been set at 200 million trips.
Not back to pre-pandemic level
Sorawong expects tourism to generate 2.6 trillion baht in revenue this year, with 1.7 trillion baht from 35 million-plus foreign visitors and 900 billion baht from 198 million trips by domestic tourists.
He said an average of 130,000-150,000 foreigners visited Thailand each day in 2024, adding foreign arrivals from Taiwan and India had surged to over 1 million.
Sorawong noted tourism revenue had failed to recover to the pre-pandemic level of 3 trillion baht, blaming wars, the global economic slowdown and the strengthening baht.
He expects a rise in tourism spending next year driven by the luxury segment, citing places like Phuket that generate high revenue despite a decline in foreign tourists.
New phase of domestic promotion
The Tourism and Sports Ministry will launch a new phase of the “Rao Tiew Duay Kan” (We Travel Together) co-payment scheme to stimulate domestic tourism next year.
Meanwhile, the Finance Ministry will introduce Easy E-Receipts from January 15 to February 28, allowing shoppers to deduct up to 50,000 baht on bills from their taxable income.
Challenge from Japan
Japan overtook Thailand with 33.3 million visitors compared to Thailand’s 31.9 million in the first 11 months of this year.
Thailand’s top 10 tourism markets were China (6.19 million) Malaysia (4.49 million), India (1.90 million), South Korea (1.67 million), Russia (1.49 million), Laos (1.05 million), Taiwan (1 million), Japan (946,292), Vietnam (920,400) and the US (906,526).
In contrast, Japan attracted most visitors from South Korea (7.95 million), followed by China (6.37 million), Taiwan (5.55 million), the US (2.48 million), Hong Kong (2.39 million), Thailand (1 million), Australia (807,800), the Philippines (710,100), Vietnam (581,100) and Singapore (555,000).
