Tourism Minister optimistic high season will see 10 million domestic trips a month

The Tourism and Sports Minister is aiming to see domestic tourists undertake 10 million trips a month during the forthcoming high season. Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn is hopeful the stimulus measures approved by Cabinet will boost tourism numbers and help off-set some of the economic devastation caused by the closure of Thailand’s borders.

Domestic tourism first began to pick up in May, while the country was still in partial lockdown, with over 500,000 trips taken that month. In June, that figure jumped to over 3 million, then 7.4 million in July and 8.4 million in August. Although September recorded 8.5 domestic trips, there is still some way to go to achieve the government’s objective of 10 million.

However, Phiphat is optimistic, expecting an increase in numbers during the last 2 months of the year. A number of financial packages have been approved by the government, with the aim of providing some much-needed security for tourism operators. The allocation of soft loans has been increased from 20 million per borrower to 100 million, with the Thai Credit Guarantee Corporation able to offer guarantees for those unable to access monetary aid.

However, Vichit Prakobgosol from the Association of Thai Travel Agents says if the conditions for getting a loan remain strict, such as collateral requirements and the need to show cash flow statements, only a small number of businesses will benefit. He is calling for an additional measure that would allow a number of companies in the same sector to act as guarantors for the borrowing company, thereby helping those who don’t meet the collateral requirement.

“Everyone is mired in difficult situations as a result of the pandemic. Further relaxations for soft loans are desperately needed to help operators stay afloat.”

At a mobile Cabinet meeting in Phuket yesterday, officials approved various measures to help small and medium-sized businesses to weather the fallout from the Covid-19 crisis. Bhummikitti Ruktaengam from the Phuket Tourism Association says the measures may provide more job security for those employed in the tourism sector. In addition to increasing the maximum amount borrowers can access through the soft loan scheme, the application period has been extended to June 30, 2021.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post