Aussies embody Thailand’s new strategy for tourism

Bloomberg

Thailand is now so popular for holidays that almost 35 million foreign tourists — equivalent to half the country’s population — are expected this year.
As the influx gets harder to manage, the government is shifting strategy. It’s now targeting a minimum increase in tourism revenue of about 5 percent annually instead of a particular number of visitors, Tourism Minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said. That means encouraging longer stays and higher daily spending, a mix the typical Australian holidaymaker exemplifies, she said.
“Maybe they’re the ones who are like: this is my time — I eat, I shop, and I eat, and I shop,” Kobkarn, 56, said in an interview.
Australian visitors were among the top 10 biggest spenders in terms of per capita daily expenditure last year, forking out 5,831 baht ($172), Tourism Ministry data shows. Their average length of stay of almost 14 days was the highest in that group. Some nationalities take even longer holidays but tend to be more parsimonious. British tourists, for instance, stayed for just over 18 days on average while spending 4,376 baht daily.
Tourism is a bright spot for Thailand’s economy, which faces challenges such as political uncertainty and sluggish consumer demand. The sector makes up about 18 percent of gross domestic product, Kobkarn said in the interview in Chiang Mai last month.
“We no longer have a target for number of tourists,” she said. “We shouldn’t go beyond the limit that we can cope. But there’s no statistic on that yet. When people say that Phuket may be too crowded, or Bangkok is too crowded, we have to make sure that we are introducing new destinations too.”
Arrivals from overseas more than doubled in the past decade, powered by a surge in Chinese holidayma-
kers who contributed 28 percent of 1.6 trillion baht in foreign tourism receipts in 2016.
Affordability is one reason why Thailand has usurped Malaysia as Southeast Asia’s most popular destination, but Kobkarn said the nation must focus on quality as well as cost to tackle emerging competitive threats from the likes of Myanmar and Vietnam.
Quality doesn’t just mean targeting wealthy tourists as Thailand needs travelers on a variety of budgets, Kobkarn said. Instead, it refers to offering good value experiences that encourage return visits, increase the average length of stay and bolster daily spending
per head, she said.