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Thailand: Cabinet OKs beefing up hotel, airfare subsidies
The cabinet yesterday approved additional stimulus measures to spur domestic tourism and help offset losses from the absence of foreign tourists during the coronavirus crisis.
With the new measures, the 40% hotel subsidy to a maximum of 3,000 baht a night — currently capped at five nights under the We Travel Together scheme — will be extended to 10 nights, with the air ticket subsidy doubled to 2,000 baht, said Rachada Dhanadirek, a deputy government spokeswoman.
On June 30, the cabinet approved two stimulus packages worth 22.4 billion baht, including the We Travel Together scheme to revitalise the domestic tourism sector.
The promotions are valid until Oct 31. As of Aug 17, 4.62 million had registered at the We Travel Together website.
In a bid to make the scheme more enticing, the cabinet yesterday assigned related agencies to encourage companies to help promote the scheme and urge their employees to take advantage of the subsidies for domestic tourism.
According to Ms Rachada, the government may subsidise 40% of lodging expenses for travelling employees, while tax incentives could be offered to companies taking part in the scheme. More details were not available.
In related news, the cabinet yesterday instructed the Labour Ministry to speed up programmes to create 1 million jobs for new graduates and unemployed workers as proposed at last week’s first meeting of the Center for Economic Situation Administration.
Deputy Prime Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow said earlier that the government would earmark funds from the 400-billion-baht budget set aside for economic and social rehabilitation to support job-creation projects.
The government also plans to assign a portion of the 3.3-trillion-baht budget from fiscal 2021 to create jobs in the fourth quarter of this year, he said.
Labour Minister Suchart Chomklin said the ministry will organise Job Expo Thailand next month, with the goal of creating employment for 400,000 new graduates and 420,000 laid-off workers.
Participating employers include state agencies, state-owned enterprises and private companies.
The cabinet also approved a combined 572.58 million baht from the fiscal 2021-22 budget to help the Pid Thong Lang Phra Foundation with sufficiency economy development programmes.
The funds will support development projects in the three southernmost provinces and some northern provinces, hoping to alleviate poverty and create sustainable development.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1974579/cabinet-oks-beefing-up-hotel-airfare-subsidies