The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) estimates total revenue from tourism in 2021 will be THB625.7 billion, most of which, or THB540.7 billion, would come from domestic tourists who are expected to make 100 million trips across the year.

The number of total foreign tourists was forecast to be 1.2 million. They are expected to contribute around THB85 billion in revenue to local tourism businesses.

“The tourism industry must adapt to the changing behaviour of travellers due to the pandemic,” TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn pointed out on Tuesday.

“As the Covid-19 situation in many countries is improving, the competition in the global tourism market in 2022 will be even fiercer,” he predicted.

Yutthasak said TAT projected tourism revenue in 2022 to reach Bt2 trillion in the best scenario, but this target would only amount to two-thirds of tourism revenue in 2019, before the coronavirus spread to Thailand.

“In order to achieve the best-case scenario, Thailand must be able to vaccinate all groups and keep new infections under control by the early fourth quarter of 2021,” he said.

“The reopening of Thailand to all foreign tourists without any quarantine must start as planned in October, while all domestic travel restrictions must be lifted around the same time,” he said.

Yutthasak also revealed that TAT would go ahead with its tourism promotion plan under the so-called “5 Highs” strategy.

“We will focus on attracting ‘high-quality’ tourists who prioritise experience over prices while we provide ‘high-value’ tourism products and services,” he said.

“TAT will also create positive ‘high impact’ communities surrounding tourist attractions by launching anti-pollution and nature conservation campaigns to establish a strong tourism supply chain in the future,” Yutthasak said.

“The last two highs are the promotion of ‘high skills’ of personnel in the tourism business and coming up with ‘high technology’ innovations to penetrate new markets both at the domestic and the international levels,” he added.