The fifth phase of the “We Travel Together” campaign will kick off at the start of June and continue until the end of July.
Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), said a meeting will soon be held to discuss the details of the initiative.Concerning funding for the program, he said any budget remaining from the current phase will be used to help fund the next iteration. He also noted that requests for additional funding can be proposed to the government if necessary.
Depending on the performance of the fourth phase, the TAT could double the number of privilege slots from 2 million to 4 million while adjusting some of the conditions. The new terms could see the government subsidizing 40% of accommodations, providing as much as 3,000 baht per night for 2 million slots, with participating hotels subsidizing the remaining 2 million slots.
The program is expected to help increase the number of travelers this year to 160 million people, generating 656 billion baht of revenue.
In a related development, the government also said it has yet to reach a decision regarding the details of the fifth phase of its popular 50-50 copay campaign.
As for special rates on air fares, Traisuree said that the number of entitlements this time has been reduced to 600,000, because not all the entitlements were used last time, adding that the revival of the program is to encourage Thais to travel and spend domestically, to help tour operators and hotel businesses who have been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown restrictions over the past two years.The cabinet has also assigned the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) to increase regulatory measures to prevent business operators or consumers abusing the program.
For the “Tour Tiew Thai” program, which offers subsidies for local tourists provided by travel agents, she said that, as proposed by the TAT, the cabinet has slashed the number of entitlements from a million to 200,000, reducing the amount of funding required to 1 billion baht, from the original 5 billion.
