THAILAND’s Ministry of Tourism and Sports (MoTS) is expecting to receive Cabinet approval today for its seven-billion baht (US$228 million) tourism development plan for 2012 to 2014.
Permanent secretary Sombat Kuruphan said the plan would involve the public and private sectors working together to increase the competitiveness of Thai tourism attractions, covering 385 projects in eight designated tourism clusters, including the Lanna civilisation in the north, the E-sarn civilisation in the north-east, UNESCO World Heritage Sites in eight provinces, the Mekong River lifestyle and the royal coast in the upper south.
Thailand registered annual tourism growth of 7.51 per cent between 2005 and 2010, with visitor arrivals growing from 11.51 million in 2005 to 15.84 million last year, according to MoTS’ Tourism Department.
Arrival numbers are expected to grow by 4.4 to five per cent to around 16.5 million to 16.6 million this year.
