The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has signed a Trade and Tourism Alliance MoU with six departments under the Thailand’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC) to integrate development strategies and marketing promotions while establishing links between trade and tourism.
The move also endeavours to support and facilitate services on trade and investment information, activities deemed beneficial for the expansion of international trade, as well as tourism promotion and development.
The six participating MOC departments include the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Department of Foreign Trade, Department of Internal Trade, Department of Intellectual Property, Department of Business Development and Department of International Trade Promotion.
Under the MoU, all parties will cooperate on providing support for the health and wellness, and gems and jewellery sectors through various online and offline activities.
It will also cooperate to organise and coordinate marketing activities for agricultural and food products (both community and seasonally-based), geographical indication products, plus all relevant products and services concerning tourism on all fronts through activities; such as fruit fairs or border trade fairs that are of equal interest to both Thai and foreign visitors.
In addition, all parties will work to coordinate information exchanges via the set-up of a knowledge centre that will cooperate on organising events and help encourage Thai businesses to become more knowledgeable on international trade and investment opportunities overseas, plus promote tourism-related trade and investment through training courses and seminars.
The country’s minister of tourism and sports Weerasak Kowsurat said in a statement that the MoU reflects the important role that tourism continues to play in Thailand’s economic development.
“Tourism is a primary driver for Thailand’s economy and economic development. It contributed over 3 trillion baht (US$94 billion) to Thailand’s economy in 2018, with two trillion baht coming from international visitors and one trillion baht from domestic tourism, representing 19 per cent of Thailand’s overall GDP,” he added.
“The Thai government is now placing more focus on sustainable tourism development and income distribution to local communities, and this much-welcomed Trade and Tourism Alliance MOU will leverage the strength of each partner to maximise the potential for national benefit,” shared Weerasak.
