BANGKOK — The Thai government has announced an aggressive tourism strategy for 2025 to attract 40 million international visitors with tourism revenue by 7.5 percent to 3.4 trillion baht ($98.5 billion)
Suwong Thienthong, Minister of Tourism and Sports, has unveiled a plan to boost tourism in 2025, aiming to attract 40 million foreign tourists. As part of the “Amazing Thailand Grand Tourism Year 2025” campaign, the government will work with global travel companies to promote tourism. The aim is to increase tourism revenue by 7.5 percent, equivalent to a total of 3.4 trillion baht.
The minister plans to invite foreign ambassadors stationed in Thailand to discuss possible obstacles that discourage international tourists from visiting the country. The aim of these talks is to improve conditions for visitors.
Following this, the relevant authorities and private sector representatives will be invited to jointly approach high-spending markets such as Europe, India and Malaysia to offset the decline in Chinese tourists.
Tourism performance is expected to improve significantly in 2025 compared to 2024. Data from the Ministry of Tourism and Sports indicates that tourism will generate about 2.6 trillion baht in 2024, an increase of about 25 percent. This included 35.32 million international tourists (up 26.77 percent) bringing in 1.66 trillion baht ($48 billion) and domestic tourism revenue of 952 billion baht ($27.5 billion) (up 11.64 percent) due to a 7.06 percent increase in domestic travelers.
“However, I admit that total tourism revenue has not yet reached the Tourism Authority of Thailand’s (TAT) target of 3 trillion baht ($87 billion) due to the global economic slowdown and ongoing conflicts. If we can reach the target number of foreign tourists in 2025, the resulting revenue should increase accordingly,” Suwong explained.
Regarding domestic tourism, Suwong mentioned that a clearer plan for large-scale domestic tourism promotion projects will be unveiled by January-February 2025. The government plans to subsidize 50 percent of travel costs, while citizens will cover the remaining 50 percent. This is an improvement on the previous system, where citizens paid 60 percent and the government 40 percent of the costs. This subsidy will apply to tourism-related goods and services, especially accommodation.
The project is expected to be implemented in several phases, with an initial budget of no less than 20 billion baht. Further decisions on the booking and payment modalities will be made to avoid loopholes that have occurred in previous implementations. The project is expected to start in March 2025.
Thapanee Kiatphaiboon, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, also pointed out that the recent New Year countdown events boosted the economy by over 62 billion baht ($1.8 billion) in tourism-related businesses, including hotels, restaurants and the entertainment industry.
The events attracted 1.56 million foreign tourists to Thailand, an increase of 16 percent, and generated 45 billion baht in revenue, up 20 percent. In the domestic market, 4.41 million trips were made by Thai tourists, an increase of 29 percent, generating 17 billion baht in revenue, an increase of 30 percent.
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