Charter flights can stimulate tourism in Thailand

The Ministry of Tourism has discussed with the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) ways to encourage charter flights from China, South Korea, Russia and Europe. All this is to increase the number of tourists and reach the goal of 40 million set by the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has set a target of attracting 40 million foreign visitors to Thailand in 2024 and total domestic and international tourism revenue of 3.5 trillion baht, exceeding the TAT target. Minister Sudawan Wangsuphakiykosol said that strong strategies are needed to achieve the goals set by the Prime Minister. This was reported by thestar.com.

In this regard, the ministry and TAT are discussing marketing tactics, including the use of charter flights, to increase the likelihood of achieving the goals.

The ministry met with TAT to monitor the market stimulation plan and attract charter flights from both near and far markets. These include Russia, the Scandinavian region, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), parts of Europe, South Korea, and China, which have the greatest potential for recovery.

Despite the slowdown in China's economic development, the size of the market and the desire to travel are contributing to the expansion of charter flights to secondary cities in China. This will help increase the number of Chinese tourists to Thailand and reach the target of 8 million this year.

Before the Covid-19 pandemic, 2019 was considered a record year for Chinese tourists traveling to Thailand, with more than 11 million visitors. The market structure showed that 40% were independent travelers and 60% were group tourists. Among these groups of tourists, about 25-30% traveled by charter flights.

"The promotion of charter flights is considered an important tactic as they can attract international tourists from secondary cities that do not have regular flights, allowing them to visit Thailand. In 2019, the share of international tourists traveling by charter flights was about 17-20% of the nearly 40 million foreign visitors. However, in 2022, this share dropped significantly to only 3%. Therefore, it is imperative to accelerate efforts to regain 15% of the charter market share this year," said Sudavan.

In addition, the ministry and TAT have set targets for TAT offices responsible for the 10 largest international tourism markets with the largest number of travelers to Thailand. Each market must achieve growth of at least 10% or more in the current year.

All of these tactics and strategies require budgetary planning and policy support, such as visa facilitation and visa waiver expansion.

Earlier, TravelWise wrote about the best places to stay in Thailand with children.