The government is delaying the tourism fee for foreign visitors due to uncertain payment methods. The scheduled date of April 1 has been postponed with at least two months.
Tourism operators consider the 300-baht fee as untimely because of the pandemic. Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said that the National Tourism Policy Committee meeting on Monday supports a tourism fund being set up from all the fees collected.
After the finalisation of the payment methods, the proposed policy is going to the cabinet. On receiving approval, the details of the fee collection must be announced within a bracket of 90 days in The Royal Gazette.
Airlines are likely the ones responsible for collecting the charge. Estimations are that a second delay is likely to be implemented as airlines asked for at least three months to prepare. Additionally, the Ministry must finalise collection methods for tourists entering the country overland.
The 300-baht fee is going to be divides as follows: Of the 300-baht fee, about 20% is used for insurance coverage for international tourists, while the majority, an estimated 50%, is directed to Thai tourism product development.
“The country’s tourism supply in terms of products and services need an enormous amount of development to increase value. Local products and festivals for example can generate income more equally,” says governor Yuthasak Supasorn of Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT)
The Creative Economy Agency (CEA) and Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau (The TAT and two state agencies) signed an understanding to support the creative industry via festivals and tourism areas. The areas must have the potential to be promoted in relation to soft power and have to be part of the local creative economy.
The cooperation should increase tourism revenue by 20% through nine categories: food, film, fashion, festivals, traditional boxing, music, museums, masters and the metaverse. Executive director of the CEA, mr. Apisit Laistrooglai, says the value of the creative industry in Thailand is expected to reach 1.5 trillion baht, growing 3.57% from last year.
Key to help create recognition are festivals such as Design Week in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Khon Kaen as Design Week is a popular event spanning more than 150 cities globally, said Mr Apisit. This year’s Bangkok Design Week generated approximately 750 million baht.
