Thai tourism-linked businesses experience booming growth amid economic recovery

Amid escalating tourist arrivals and robust economic recovery, Thai tourism-associated enterprises have been reaping lucrative rewards, particularly in the fields of foreign exchange, travel agencies, tour guides, dining establishments, and the accommodation industry. Such industries have experienced impressive growth within the initial five months of this year, as revealed by data garnered through the Business Development Department of the Commerce Ministry.

Tourism-related businesses emerged as key contributors, making up an 8.10% share in newly-set-up businesses, which marked a 96.6% uptick within the first five months. A spectacular surge of 389% was clocked in the realm of foreign currency exchange businesses, while travel agencies experienced a growth of 281%. Tour guide businesses didn’t lag either, with a notable 225% growth. Meanwhile, with a rise of 67.2%, restaurants reaped substantial benefits. In the property business, hotels, resorts, and condo firms recorded an increase of 49.1%, resulting in a significant boost in Thai tourism.

Such market acceleration and surge in Thai tourism are fuelled by the surge in arriving foreign tourists and, crucially, the recovering Thai economy. The Director-General of the Business Development Department, Thosapone Dansuputra, reflected upon these favourable conditions that mirror the upswing in the consumer confidence index.

Looking forward, the Department anticipates the registration of new business entities in the range of 42,000 to 45,000 within the first half of 2023 and an upswing to 75,000 to 78,000 entities across the complete year.

The booming business scene set records within these initial five months. 39,660 new businesses sprung up, marking a 17.9% annual increase, the highest in ten years. Thai tourism has also played a significant role in this growth, as the sector continues to flourish and attracts more investors. In terms of capital, the value soared to 389 billion baht, ticking up by 50% year-on-year.

As per the Department’s disclosure, the leading trio in new businesses in this period were general construction, real estate, and restaurants, accounting for 7.57%, 7.33%, and 4.69% respectively, reported Bangkok Post.

A decade-high was broken in May when the registration of new businesses peaked at 7,437 entities, a 26% annual gain. The combined registered capital for May recorded an astounding rise of 97.9% from the same month of the preceding year, amounting to 28.4 billion baht, boosting Thai tourism.

If business types are considered for May, real estate emerged as the front-runner, closely followed by general construction and restaurants, reporting a 7.50%, 6.46%, and 4.96% share respectively.

However, the Department also reported businesses closing down during the period. In this segment, 5,438 companies ceased operations, which was reflected in the combined registered capital decreasing by 19%. In May alone, business closures increased by 12% year-on-year with 1,234 businesses shutting down. This led to an increase in the registered capital of these shuttered businesses by 119% reaching 8.23 billion baht.

As of May 31, the active organisational total stood at 876,953 entities. The registered capital of all these businesses totalled a breathtaking 21.3 trillion baht.