Thai Restaurants, real estate drive 18% rise in business registrations
New business registrations in February of Thailand this year rose 18.39% to 8,537 compared with the same period last year, though only 0.84% from January, government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri said on Monday.
He cited a rise in tourism and hotel business registrations as evidence that Thai tourism is rebounding strongly after Covid-19.
New registrations in February were led by construction, real estate, and restaurant businesses, according to data from the Department of Business Development.
“Of these new businesses, 687 of them or 8.05% are in the tourism industry,” he said. “This signals a continued recovery of the tourism industry since Thailand reopened the country to foreign visitors in October last year.”
Meanwhile new restaurant registrations in February increased 84.23% year on year, while new hotel registrations rose 25.93%, in line with the rising consumer confidence index and growing number of foreign visitors.
“The tourism industry has been recovering continually thanks to the government’s policies in promoting tourism and related industries, targeting both domestic and foreign visitors,” said Anucha. “For the upcoming Songkran Festival, the government has prepared campaigns in several provinces to attract both domestic and foreign tourists and increase their spending to boost the local economy.”
He added that tourism operators were receiving continual support from the government, with operating conditions expected to improve this year.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced massive Songkran festivals will be held across five regions of Thailand in April to boost the tourism rebound.
TAT has also launched the fifth phase of its “Rao Tiew Duay Kan” (We Travel Together) scheme to stimulate domestic tourism. The scheme offers a discount of up to 40% on accommodation and plane tickets, plus 600-baht daily coupons that can be used at participating shops.
