Over 40m int'l tourists expected to visit Thailand in 2019

BANGKOK, March 4 (TNA) - The Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) has estimated that the country should welcome more than 40 million international tourists this year, about two million more than last year. TCT President Chairat Trirattanajarasporn announced the assessment, after chairing a meeting of TCT members in Bangkok on March 3. Chairat explained that the TCT updated projection was based on the fact that the number of international tourist arrivals in Thailand exceeded 38 million in 2018. The TCT president told journalists that the domestic tourism in 2018 earned the Thai Kingdom over 3 trillion baht totally or accounting for about 19.5 per cent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The president quoted TCT members as saying that they believed the newly-elected government after Thailand's general election later this month, March 24, should carry on domestic tourism promotional measures to maintain or even further boost confidence in the Thai Kingdom among international visitors in order to uphold the active Thai tourism sector and to rely on its revenues as a key factor to stimulate the national economic growth. The TCT president stated, meanwhile, that member tourism business operators discussed more safety measures for international visitors to Thailand to be proposed for the official implementation in a concrete aspect, covering those at their accommodation facilities and tourist sites. Besides, the proposed adoption of more innovations and digital technology, as well as the development of big data in the Thai tourism sector was discussed, aimed to further upgrade goods and services in the domestic tourism sector, where plans to ensure more balanced income distribution for locals between major and minor tourist destinations should also taken into account. (TNA)