15 Jan, 2010

Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa has expressed his confidence in a 10% growth of Thailand’s domestic tourism in 2010. The ministry has set a goal to attract tourists from the East Asia.

Mr Chumpol on Thursday reported that the number of tourists last year exceeded the target of 14 million people, thanks to good cooperation from the private sector. The minister added that the government’s measures to assist tourism entrepreneurs affected by political turmoil would be continued this year, including admission fee reduction, free landing and parking fees, and free visas.

Mr Chumpol continued to say that the public sector would also implement measures more proactively with emphasis on tourists from countries like China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

The minister also expressed his belief that the number of Thai and foreign tourists traveling to the Kingdom throughout 2010 would likely increase by 7-10% year-on-year or about 15.5 million people.

Source: National News Bureau Thailand, Public Relations Department