Former tourism boss touts measures for 2026 comeback

Despite a tourism downturn this year, Thailand should not lose its grip on promoting the markets next year, as the government should quickly fix perceptions concerning the lack of safety by revamping its image to resemble a trusted destination and by partnering with airlines to maintain seats and affordable airfares, in order to increase revenue by 8% to 1.63 trillion baht as targeted.

- NARUMON KASEMSUK

Yuthasak Supasorn, former governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and chairman of the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand, said as the TAT has still set an ambitious arrivals target of 34.9 million, up 4%, and a foreign revenue target of 1.63 trillion baht, up 8%, a range of measures should be implemented in order for the country to make a comeback in 2026.

He said it would remain challenging to achieve those targets next year if the safety concerns are left unresolved.

Performance for the first nine months has already shown the severe impact of the perception problem, as arrivals plunged by 7.56% year-on-year to 24 million, while revenue declined by 5.85% to 1.1 trillion baht.

The recovery also largely depends on how effectively the country can leverage current measures, such as chartered flights and online travel promotions, to boost the Chinese market.