Bid to make Thailand tourism, sports hub

BANGKOK, May 6 (TNA) -- Tourism and Sports Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said she is targeting to make Thailand a tourism and sports hub after successfully hosting a major tourism meeting in Thailand. Her remarks were made after some 1,200 tourism ministers and CEOs from 57 countries attended the WTTC (World Travel & Tourism Council) Global Summit in the kingdom. In pursuing the government’s policy, Ms Kobkarn said she would put efforts in making Thailand a tourism and sports hub so that the country could further develop and connect with other fellow member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN member countries this year celebrate the 50 anniversary of the regional bloc establishment and, according to Ms Kobkarn, more than 121 million foreign tourists would visit ASEAN and generate 29 trillion baht. More than 12 million foreigners already visited Thailand from this January 1 to May 3 and the country earned 615 million baht, up 1.71 and 3.43 per cent from number of tourists and revenue earned during the corresponding period of last year. Also, Ms Kobkarn said she wanted to make Thailand a wedding hub for foreigners after noticing that about 1.1 million foreigners hosted wedding parties in the kingdom in 2016, generating 50 billion baht. (TNA)