Thailand is advancing a broad visitor economy framework, reclassifying who counts as a visitor and measuring diverse spending streams to reach a 2035 target of six trillion baht (US$185 billion) per year – roughly double the country’s current annual tourism income – in economic value, alongside the creation of at least 1.2 million new jobs.
The framework positions visitors as a driving force for the broader economy. Rather than focusing solely on increasing tourist numbers, the national strategy aims to drive economic value, investment, employment and quality of life across all regions.
The concept was integrated into government planning on August 19, 2026, by deputy prime minister and commerce minister Suphajee Suthumpun, who established a working group to drive the strategy. The framework encompasses various non-residents travelling in and out of Thailand whose spending supports sectors not typically associated with the tourism industry.
“Thailand should no longer treat every visitor as the same type of tourist. Instead, it should recognise different purposes for travel, including health, education, business, weddings, film production and Work from Anywhere, as well as niche groups with high spending power,” Weerasak Kowsurat, chairman of the Working Group on Creative Economy Development and Visitor Economy, told local news outlet The Nation.
Spending from these visitors flows into airlines, restaurants, hospitals, shopping malls, education, real estate, transport, sports, culture, entertainment and digital services. Weerasak said there is potential to integrate further sectors, such as insurance, into the visitor economy, which could foster job creation for agents servicing visitors.
The working group currently meets weekly to advance the strategy. At the August 25, 2026 meeting hosted at the Association of Thai Travel Agents headquarters, members agreed to launch sandbox pilots in Bangkok, Chiang Rai and Krabi.
Each pilot will gather visitor economy data for benchmarking across cities, aiming to raise the value per visitor, retain spending within local areas, improve community living standards and support green growth. The Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, which measures visitor economy activity for business travellers, sits on the working group.
Weerasak emphasised that the visitor economy transcends traditional silos, citing international students as an example. He noted that the Ministry of Education runs its own subset of the visitor economy through private schools and international university programmes. He plans to collaborate with the ministry to track foreign student tuition and accommodation spending – metrics previously not considered by the tourism sector.
As this approach requires integrating existing sectors under a new framework, Weerasak said the committee is not expecting immediate results.
“We cannot be impatient with the visitor economy, because it takes time to create a proper foundation. Today our aim is not to produce a hurried plan on paper, but to build more connectedness, foster ownership across sectors and let each agency connect and plug into the ecosystem according to its own reality,” Weerasak said.
