Thailand eyes leveraging soft power to attract quality international tourists

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TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the plan came after a discussion with the private sector following the government’s decision to reopen Thailand to the international community this month.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is aiming to leverage Thai soft power in order to attract quality international visitors to the kingdom.

TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the plan came after a discussion with the private sector following the government’s decision to reopen Thailand to the international community this month. The meeting aimed to determine how best to attract between 5 million and 15 million visitors this year. If Thailand sees 160 million total travelers in 2022, tourism revenue could be as high as 1.3 to 1.8 trillion baht.

The plan includes the promotion of Thai cultural experiences, or soft power, featuring culinary favorites such as mango sticky rice, along with Thai films and series, fashion and Muay Thai martial arts.

According to the TAT Governor, about 444,000 international travelers made their way to Thailand over the first three months of this year, generating over 34 billion baht in revenue. Looking ahead to the May-to-September period, the TAT is looking to attract at least 300,000 quality tourists each month, eventually bringing that figure up to 1 million from October through to the rest of 2022.



Yuthasak said he expects steep competition with other countries that are also reopening to attract more visitors to help revitalize their economies. The TAT also plans to take the private sector on more roadshows globally, with an emphasis on important markets.(NNT)