Govt supports small hotels to boost cultural tourism in communities

BANGKOK, June 12 (TNA) – The government has worked to empower small scale and boutique hotels to promote cultural tourism in communities. The government has supported small hotel operators to present local ways of life and offer hospitality to attract tourists. Last year, it started a pilot project to develop 128 tourism operators and 167 boutique hotel and hostel operators in the northern provinces, said Government spokesman Sansern Kaewkamnerd. The government revised the law and relaxed some regulations to allow local entrepreneurs to renovate their properties into small registered hotels, leading to an increase of new small hotel operators by 30 per cent each year. Moreover, it also strengthens their network and supports entrepreneurs with online business matching opportunities on the website http://matching.smartthaibiz.com. Currently, there are about 3,000 users and it will be extended to include small hotel operators in other regions. Meanwhile, there are 4,727 small hotels or about 56 per cent of all 8,384 hotel operators across the country. The government targets this year, the hotel businesses could create an income of 200 billion baht, the same as last year when the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) reached 13.5 trillion baht. (TNA)