Thai minister wants to hike domestic tourism subsidy

The Tourism and Sports Minister is aiming to increase the tourism subsidy to local tourists in the upcoming stimulus scheme to 50% and would like to change the criteria for online travel agents, mandating them to register in Thailand to avoid losing income to foreign companies.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Lalisa “Lisa” Manoban, the globally-renowned Thai pop star, will perform at the Amazing Thailand Countdown 2025 to be held in Bangkok.
Tourism and Sports Minister Sorawong Thienthong said the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is drafting the criteria of the new co-payment scheme, which would help subsidise tourism costs for locals, and argued it should be adjusted to raise the economic impact to 5-10% compared to the previous version of the scheme.
The previous five phases of the subsidy during the time of the previous government created an economic impact of around 58.6 billion baht.
Initially, the ministry would like to start the programme during the low season next year, but it may consider an earlier start, such as the beginning of 2025, as proposed by the private sector.
He said the ministry would study the TAT’s plan next month and would like to submit the project to the cabinet in January 2025.
“Personally, I’d like the subsidy from the government to increase from 40% in the previous five phases to 50%. If possible, we’d like to start earlier to stimulate the economy via tourism expenditure as soon as possible. However, we first have to hear from the Finance Ministry about the budget,” said Mr Sorawong.
He said the ministry has also assigned the TAT to consider mechanisms that avoid overly depending on foreign online travel agents (OTAs).
“As per discussions with hotel operators, the previous stimulus programme allowing foreign OTAs to be official platforms resulted in unfair practices for local businesses, as most of them were not registered in Thailand. The huge amount of commission collected from hotels, which is as high as 25-30%, has flown out of the country,” he said.
He added that the TAT would continue to support countdown festivals across Thailand this year. One of the highlights is the show by Lalisa, already confirmed.
Speaking at a soft power and Thailand’s opportunity seminar, TAT governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool said soft power should be another product that helps the tourism industry contribute income to 7,000 local communities across Thailand, helping the tourism industry to earn 30% of GDP within 2030.
She said driving tourism supply is also crucial, especially the One Family One Soft Power project, which would help create more skilled workers.