Thailand authorities with series of measures to boost tourism

It’s been more than 3 months since the military ceased power in Thailand and things are getting back to normal now. Although latest news confirm that the number of tourists visiting the capital Bangkok is decreased, it looks like the popular tourist spots like Pattaya, Phuket, Koh Samui, Chiang Mai are welcoming almost the same number of tourists like the previous years. Thailand authorities (organizations, government bodies) have taken several measures to increase the number of tourists that visit their country.

One of those projects was designed by the Tourist Organization of Thailand. This is actually an ambitious marketing strategy for fast recovery of tourism after the change of authorities in Thailand. The new goal set by this organization is to realize an income of more than 68 billion dollars in 2015. This ambitious goal can be achieved thanks to the promotion of the new tourist concept called “Thainess, happiness, sustainability”. The project aims to restore the trust of foreign tourist in Thailand as a world class tourist destination (something that Thailand was/is for the past 20 years). For example, in 2013 Thailand had the 6th largest income from tourism in the world and third largest in Asia. As part of this campaign the potential visitors can be part of several events like Thailand Happiness Carnival in December and Thailand Music Festival.

Another measure taken by Thai authorities is exemption of visa fees for Chinese and Taiwanese visitors from August until October. The news was announced by the Shanghai Office of the Thailand Tourism Authority few days ago. Until now the visa cost around $37. The reason for this exemption is of course boost for the tourism sector. The Chinese tourists have already showed a great appreciation for this measure and local agencies are pushing Thailand as their first offer. The number of Chinese tourists decreased for more than 30% after the military made the coup in May. But in June the number of tourists started to grow. This measure will definitely help the tourism in Thailand. After all, China is one of the countries that provides most tourists to Thailand.