The government of Thailand announced on Tuesday that it wants to bring in 400 billion baht ($11 billion) in tourism revenue in the second half of the year as more travellers return to the tropical vacation spot following border limitations brought on by the pandemic.
More than 4 million tourists visited the Southeast Asian country in the first eight months of 2022, according to government spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek. This year, 10 million tourists are the target.
According to the government, the foreign immigrants have so far brought in 176 billion baht ($4.93 billion), primarily from Malaysia, India, and Singapore.
According to Rachada, who cited data from the trade ministry, the influx of returning foreign tourists has led to the registration of 549 new tourism-related firms in the first seven months of the year, an increase of 169% from the same period last year.
To further bolster the industry, the Thai government recently announced that one of its most popular tourist visas will be increased from 15 to 30 days starting in October.
Due to the COVID-19 epidemic, international arrivals fell to just 428,000 last year, compared to a record of nearly 40 million arrivals in 2019, when tourism accounted for 12% of the nation’s GDP.
