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Thailand aims to raise 20 billion baht in revenue from inbound Saudi tourists in 2022
To achieve its ambitious goals, he Ministry of Tourism and Sports, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has announced that it will launch a roadshow of events in Saudi Arabia in March 2022.
The roadshow will be led by the tourism ministry and comes as diplomatic ties between the countries were restored last month when PM Prayut Chan-o-cha visited the kingdom.
Speaking about the upcoming event, Thai tourism minister Pipat Ratchakitprakarn said: “We aim to present Thai products and tourism services at the roadshow events to attract Saudi tourists who are interested in visiting Thailand.
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“The ministry expects that, by the end of 2022, Thailand could welcome at least 200,000 visitors from Saudi Arabia, who will help generate approximately 20 billion baht in tourism revenue.”
Pipat added that tourism businesses in Thailand were eager to tap both sides of the market – attracting Saudi tourists to Thailand and showcasing Saudi Arabia for Thai tourists.
He said: “We also talked with the Saudi tourism ministry about extending the visa period for Thai Muslims travelling to Saudi Arabia on pilgrimage, while tourism operators are planning to launch tour packages that include Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages for Muslim travellers.
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“Middle Eastern tourists will start visiting foreign countries about one month after Ramadan or around May onward. If tourism businesses launch new campaigns during this period, we could attract up to 200,000 visitors this year, and could increase to 500,000 in the following years when more Covid-19 travel restrictions are lifted.”
According to Pipat, before diplomatic ties were restored, 20,000 Saudi visitors entered Thailand annually, the majority to partake in wellness tourism programmes.