TAT aiming for 70 million domestic trips by year end, planning more incentives for 2021

The glass is half-full for the Tourism Authority of Thailand as it predicts domestic tourism during the last 2 months of the year will result in 70 million trips undertaken in 2020. Kritsana Kaewthamrong, deputy governor for domestic marketing, says additional public holidays, coupled with discounts on flights and hotels, should mean travel figures will exceed those of preceding months. He adds that the TAT is also planning a raft of incentives to keep momentum going in 2021.

Some facts and figures on domestic tourism in the Kingdom this year, as reported by the Bangkok Post:

During the first 9 months of 2020, domestic trips numbered 52.7, a drop of over 54% on 2019 figures. 323 billion baht has been generated from those trips, which is nearly a 60% decrease on the same period last year. There has also, unsurprisingly, been a drop in spending per trip, which is down nearly 14.5% to 4,149 baht. Hotel occupancy rates averaged 28.6%.

The TAT and the Thai government are pumping up the “domestic tourism” narrative as they continue to wrestle with plans to safely re-open Thailand’s borders to something resembling “tourism”.

Last month, that occupancy rate improved somewhat, rising to nearly 34.5%, with properties in the north and north-east faring particularly well. Thanks to the cooler weather, hotel occupancy rates in the north were down less than 10% compared to the same period last year, and in the north-east, occupancy was down by just over 2%.

Kritsana says the TAT is now looking at a number of incentives and other campaigns to continue boosting domestic travel during the coming year. New year countdown events are being planned for various provinces, including the southern province of Krabi, Roi Et in the north-east, and Sukothai and Ratchaburi in central Thailand.

The authority is also planning a “Best Selfie in Thailand” campaign, teaming up with airlines and travel bloggers to offer packages and incentives for “forgotten” destinations. The campaign is expected to get underway from the middle of next month or early next year.

The TAT is also planning to promote caravan road trips next year, as well as teaming up with telecom operators to potentially offer free Wifi to travellers who complete a tourism questionnaire. The feedback would be used to inform new marketing campaigns and improve existing ones.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post