Thailand launches US$641 million scheme to boost domestic tourism in pandemic’s wake
- With tourism accounting for up to 20 per cent of the country’s GDP last year, the ‘land of smiles’ is acutely feeling the lack of international arrivals
- But the government is banking on vouchers, plus subsidies for transport and hotels, to entice Thais into travelling and help make up for some of the loss
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With international arrivals unlikely to resume until the last quarter of this year, the government is counting on its own citizens to pump cash into the ailing tourism industry.
Its three-pronged stimulus package covers subsidies on accommodation, transport subsidies – including for domestic flights, long-distance buses, and car rental fees – and e-vouchers that can be used for food and other services. All subsidies are capped at 40 per cent of total expenditure, leaving travellers to pay the balance, with transactions to be handled through the state-owned Krung Thai Bank e-wallet app that is linked to each user’s unique citizen ID card number to reduce the risk of fraud.
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The scheme will run until October 31 and is limited to 5 million room nights and travel allowances for 2 million trips – a fraction of the government’s target of 100 million domestic trips this year. An additional 2.4 billion baht has also been earmarked to provide frontline health care workers with special travel packages.
Online registration for the scheme is already open for businesses planning on taking part, with 36,000 restaurants and 24,000 hotels expected to join. The scheme’s implementation has not been without its issues, however.
Kanyarat Som Thongkhum, who owns the five-room Baansuan Chamchuen Homestay in Ban Phaeo, Samut Sakhon province, noted that the registration process was easy, but balked at having to choose between accepting bookings through online travel agent Agoda, which charges a substantial commission, or taking credit card payments.
“Our room rate is only 800 baht (US$25.65) per night,” she said. “We try to avoid extra expenses.” Credit card fees will now eat into her already slim margins, but she said she remains hopeful. “We expect it to increase the number of visits to our homestay.”
Although the scheme does not cover permanent residents because of legal issues with extending it to non-citizens, Tourism Authority of Thailand Deputy Governor Tanes Petsuwan said they were negotiating with online travel agents such as Agoda and Booking.com “to produce a special and privileged package for expats” separate from the allocations under the programme.
At a recent “Unlock Sale” held in Bangkok’s popular Central World shopping centre – the first public marketing event organised by the tourism authority since Thailand’s physical distancing rules were introduced – 24 businesses from the popular island of Samui gathered to offer everything from substantially discounted air fares to free shopping vouchers.
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The government’s hope is that its combined efforts will be enough to generate 900 billion baht (US$28 billion) this year, roughly one-third of the 3 trillion baht that the industry made in 2019.
This is not the first time the government has looked to use handouts to support domestic tourism. Last year, it announced a subsidy scheme to encourage tourists to go to under-visited secondary destinations around the country, before ultimately scrapping the plan amid criticism that it amounted to political pandering. Later in the year, a “Taste, Shop, Spend” scheme was launched to give away 10 million 1,000 baht grants for people to spend on goods and services, though this was plagued with a number of technical difficulties.
What remains to be seen is whether Thais are willing to travel again, with or without incentives. People questioned for this article asked whether the system would be complicated to use, if it was suited to their current travel needs and if spending 4,500 baht to benefit from the maximum room discount of 3,000 baht was really worth the trouble.
But it is the risk of contracting coronavirus that is still the primary concern for many potential travellers. “I like travelling but it’s better if I start again when this situation is resolved,” said Chiang Mai resident Pimpaporn Pimsaran.