Tourism and sports minister sets her sights high
Under the management of minister Sudawan Wangsuphakijkosol, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports aims to push Thailand as Asia’s new hub of entertainment, directly competing with Singapore in the organisation of sports and entertainment events.
“Events hosted in Thailand must be unique, huge, creative and continuous,” Sudawan said on Thursday. “We will harness our soft power to push the tourism industry forward and compete with Singapore for a top spot in entertainment event organisation.”
The first-time MP and minister added that she is committed to reviving Thailand’s tourism industry to contribute to the country’s economy following the policy of Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin.
The PM announced on Wednesday that the Cabinet had approved the policy to allow tourists from China and Kazakhstan to enter Thailand without a visa for five months (September 25-Febrauary 29) in a bid to promote tourism.
The visa-free policy is expected to draw 700,000 Chinese tourists per month in the last three months of this year. Foreign arrivals from other countries are expected to increase too, she added.
The ministry also plans to hold marketing campaigns overseas to publicise the visa-free campaign as well as promote a positive image of Thailand to attract foreign tourists, she said
The ministry has set a target of 28 million foreign tourists in 2023, with total tourism revenue (from both Thai and foreign tourists) reaching 2.38 trillion baht, or about 80% of that generated in 2019.
Tourism revenue should reach 3 trillion baht or 100% of pre-Covid levels by 2024, said Sudawan.
She has also set what she calls a “challenging” target to reach revenue of 4 trillion baht as quickly as possible. Under this target, 3 trillion baht would come from foreign tourists, a rise of nearly 60% from 2019, while the revenue from domestic travellers is expected to be about 1 trillion baht per year.
