Travel Subsidy Schemes to be Extended until December

The remaining 4-billion-baht budget for the hotel subsidy schemes “We Travel Together” and “Tour Teaw Thai” has been announced as sufficient, allowing both programs to be extended until the end of the year. TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn stated that a proposal to extend both travel schemes will be submitted to the National Economic and Social Development Council soon. We Travel Together’s fourth phase concludes in May, with the average traveler spending only 1,200 baht per night out of a maximum of 3,000 baht. This phase cost a total of 8.4 billion baht, with 7.1 billion baht spent on hotel rooms, 1.25 billion baht spent on food and drink via vouchers, and the remainder spent on air tickets.

Yuthasak said that the remaining budget from the program’s 4th phase will allow TAT to implement its fifth phase without having to ask for additional funding from the government. The TAT also plans to request that hotel operators consider offering customers a 50 percent discount for an additional 1 million room nights. If agreed, the 5th phase of the “We Travel Together” Scheme could offer tourists a total of 2 million room nights by the end of the scheme.Meanwhile, the tour subsidy program, which expires in April, has 131,415 privileges remaining, prompting tour operators to request an extension until the end of the year.

A few changes have been proposed to the “Tour Teaw Thai” campaign, such as allowing tourists to purchase three packages instead of just one in the current phase, and resetting the quota for companies that had already sold 1,000 packages, which was the maximum set for each company. According to Yuthasak, the stimulus extensions are necessary to encourage an additional 107 million domestic trips worth 415 billion baht in Q2. The Tourism and Sports Ministry has set a target of 160 million domestic trips in 2022, with total revenue of 656 billion baht generated for the country.