Thailand Reveals 2025 Tourism Targets After Visa-Free Expansion

16.07.2024 - 10:03 / skift.com / Southeast Asia / Srettha Thavisin / Peden Doma Bhutia / Thapanee Kiatphaibool

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is aiming to increase tourism revenue in the country by 7.5% next year.

“TAT has set a target of no less than a 7.5% increase in tourism revenue for 2025, or 1.7 times higher than Thailand’s GDP growth forecast for the year. This is based on the ‘best case scenario’ of 39 million international visitors and more than 205 million domestic trips,” TAT said in a statement.

To help boost visitor numbers, Thailand has expanded its visa-free entry scheme. Citizens from 93 countries and territories can now stay for up to 60 days without a visa, while those from 31 countries and territories can apply for visas on arrival.

The countries eligible for visa-free stays include key tourism markets like China and India, as well as U.S., UK, Albania, UAE, Cambodia, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Laos, Mexico, Morocco, Panama, Romania, Sri Lanka and Uzbekistan.

With these latest developments, the total number of countries eligible for visa-free entry soars from 57 to 93.

Last month Thailand scrapped its contentious proposal to impose a THB 300 ($8.20) tourism fee on international tourists arriving by air.

The earlier target for 2025 was THB 3.4 trillion ($94 billion) in total tourism revenue, up from THB 3 trillion ($83 billion) for 2024. However, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has expressed a desire to generate THB 3.5 trillion ($97 billion) in tourism revenue this year alone.

The projected growth of 7.5% depends on the tourism revenue Thailand receives by the end of this year, according to Thapanee Kiatphaibool, the governor of TAT.

The first half of 2024 saw 17.5 million foreign tourists, a 35% increase from the same period last year. The top five countries contributing to the rise were China, Malaysia, India, South Korea, and Russia. TAT has also adjusted its target for Indian tourists to 2.3-2.4 million this year from 2.06 million, driven by the visa-free policy.

Chinese tourists alone accounted for more than 3.4 million tourists in the first half of the year.

For 2024, TAT is focusing on 23 potential markets worldwide that account for more than 80% of the total number and revenue from foreign tourists.

The goal is to expand the number of markets each attracting at least a million tourists to 13 by 2025.

Efforts include increasing seat capacity by adding flights on current routes and introducing new routes for both regular and charter services.

The strategy will also leverage the popularity of Thai locations in series, movies, and music videos. Several K-pop artists such as (G)I-dle and Seventeen have filmed their music videos in Thailand.

The country is also ramping up efforts to cater to a diverse range of travelers as part of its strategic tourism initiatives for 2025. TAT said it