Overseas travel by Thais back on an upward track
The foreign tourism market is expected to continue to recover in the second half of the year, with an estimated 7.5 million Thais taking overseas trips, or about 70% of the number recorded in 2019, the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA) predicted on Wednesday.
Before the pandemic, about 11 million Thais visited foreign countries annually, creating a market with 330-billion-baht revenue, said association vice chairman Chotechuang Surangkul.
He added that the price of air tickets to overseas destinations are still higher than before the pandemic, but since overseas travellers are mostly high-income earners, this was unlikely to affect the association’s estimate.
Also boosting overseas tourism are the campaigns being rolled out by tour companies and travel agencies to reward loyal customers with incentives all year round, he added.
Chotechuang, who is also a deputy managing director of Noom Sao Tours Ltd, said that Japan is currently among the most popular destinations for Thai travellers thanks to the weakening of the yen. He expected at least 800,000 Thais to visit Japan this year, noting that the number in the first six months has already surpassed 500,000.
In 2019, 1.3 million Thais visited Japan, or 10% of the total foreign tourism market.
Chotechuang added that Thai Vietjet Air is considering adding more routes to Japan in October.
The TTAA said the second most popular destination among Thais this year could be South Korea, with visitors estimated at around 550,000. Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Singapore are in third, fourth and fifth places respectively.
Chotechuang said the association is planning to propose to the new government measures to promote outbound tourism, including exempting the tax on outbound travellers, which overlaps with the VAT on outbound air tickets.
