Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Ministry has set a target of 10 million domestic trips per month during high season following the cabinet's approval of more financial aid measures on November 3. (Photo: ethainews.com)Bangkok (VNA) – Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Ministry has set a target of 10 milliondomestic trips per month during high season following the cabinet's approval ofmore financial aid measures on November 3.
After thegovernment lifted the lockdown in the second quarter, the number of domestictrips gradually picked up from merely 90,000 in April to 8.5 million inSeptember, but has yet to cross the 10-million-trip threshold despitegovernment stimulus schemes.
Thai Minister ofTourism and Sports Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said improved scenarios areexpected over the last two months of this year, the high season for thedomestic market, while measures approved by the government may help operatorsrun their businesses at a steadier pace.
The improvedperformance in domestic tourism started during the partial lockdown in May with505,000 trips, before growing to 3.2 million in June, 7.4 million in July and8.4 million in August.
VichitPrakobgosol, President of theAssociation of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA), said increasing the allocation ofsoft loans to 100 million baht (3.2 million USD) from 20 million and allowingthe Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation (TCG) to provide loan guarantees tooperators that cannot access financial aid certainly can increase opportunitiesfor operators to receive soft loans.
BhummikittiRuktaengam, President of thePhuket Tourist Association, said the cabinet approval of financial measureswill help tourism operators retain their employees.
Thailand, atourism-dependent economy, is forecast to welcome only 8 – 9 million foreignvisitors this year, a drastic drop from last year’s 40 million, due to impactsof COVID-19, according to the Bank of Thailand (BoT). Revenue from tourismcontributed to about 11 – 12 percent of the country’s GDP in 2019./.
VNA
