Call for more proactive government tourism policies

Tourism operators urge the government to be more active in dealing with unexpected events, while also addressing the lack of strategy for supply development.
Last week Tourism and Sports Minister Sorawong Thienthong said the ministry is revising its 2025 plan to improve the competitiveness of the tourism industry.
“It’s more difficult to forecast long-term tourism growth as situations rapidly change, with severe weather triggering flash floods recently and geopolitical tensions flaring,” said Chamnan Srisawat, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand. “The government should adjust its plan more regularly to tackle these circumstances.”
He said the government should work more closely with the private sector to share ideas about stimulus plans by establishing a tourism war room chaired by the minister, including representatives from companies. This committee should schedule a monthly meeting to update significant issues affecting the industry and revise plans to prevent the loss of markets during unexpected events, said Mr Chamnan.
The National Tourism Policy Committee mostly discusses developing heritage sites, but hardly touches on other aspects of tourism development, he said.
Regarding the plan to resume the “We Travel Together” scheme, Mr Chamnan said such promotions for Thai tourists should be launched every quarter and focus on second-tier cities, which are still unfamiliar to foreigners.
“Tourism operators in second-tier cities can polish their hospitality skills and tourism products by handling the domestic market first, before starting to welcome foreign markets,” he said.
Mr Chamnan said Thailand should be able to attract more high-spending tourists, focusing on global trends of wellness and medical tourism, retirees, and meetings and incentives groups. The government should also ensure access to funding for small tourism operators as this group has recovered more slowly than large players, he said.
Adith Chairattananon, honorary secretary-general of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta), said the government mostly relies on quick-win measures such as festivals and events to boost the market in the short term, but there are no strategies designed for supply development.
During a meeting with Mr Sorawong last month, Atta proposed drafting a tourism carrying capacity blueprint to analyse new potential cities for tourism, aiming to prevent overtourism. Mr Adith said the government should outline necessary investments.