Ministry monitors spending trends

BANGKOK, 30 August 2010 – Thailand earned Bt715.99 billion in tourism receipts from inbound and domestic tourists, last year according to a Ministry of Tourism and Sports’ Bureau of Economics report released last week.

The ministry noted that compared to the country’s 2009 gross domestic product of Bt9.05 trillion, tourism income represented 7.91% of GDP.

MoTS launched its National Income from Tourism study, last year, covering inbound and domestic tourism.

MoTS deputy permanent-secretary, Thanittha Savetsila Maneechote, said that initially the ministry planned to publish the results annually, but have since decided to release data every quarter. This was the first release. Next year, the ministry will start its Tourism Satellite Account which will help to strengthen the credibility of the data.

“The figures cannot yet be used as an official reference for per capita income as they do not represent fiscal reality due to several factors such as a shortfall in information on foreign investors and non-registered population.

“Also this data cannot be submitted to UNWTO because it includes day trippers, and UNWTO disregards data for stays of less than 24 hours,” said Thanittha. “However, the study does reflect trends in each region and can be used for tourism development strategic planning.”

The study was in line with estimates of the National Accounts Office, National Economic and Social Development Board. It stated receipts in 2009 could increase to 7 to 8% of the GDP from 6% due to economic growth and price increases.

According to the study, tourism income from inbound and domestic tourists was Bt715.99 billion in 2009 or 7.91% of the GDP (Bt9.05 trillion).

Bangkok earned the most income from tourism (Bt331.45 billion) followed by the southern region (Bt182.21 billion); the eastern region (Bt72.79 billion) ; the northern region (Bt58.84 billion); the northeastern region (Bt27.21 billion) and the central region (Bt15.19 billion).

Ms Thanitta clarified that though tourism income for the central provinces were the lowest, it did not mean that there were not many tourists. Most tourists going to that region were day trippers, and had no accommodation expenses.

By province or city, the top five earners were Bangkok (Bt331.45 billion), Phuket (Bt94 billion), Chonburi (Bt47.83 billion), Surat Thani (Bt36.52 billion)and Chiang Mai (Bt32.61 billion). Five provinces at the low-end were Nong Bua Lamphu (Bt114.91 million), Amnart Charoen (Bt120.09 million), Yasothon (Bt169.25 million), Ang Thong and Pichit (Bt281.7 million).

In terms of revenue per head, people in Bangkok earned the most (Bt58,123) followed by the South (Bt20,673)  the East (Bt15,969); West (Bt7,140); North (Bt4,989); Central (Bt2,021) and Northeast (Bt1,266).

The data was collected from interview samples at immigration check points and tourist places – 40,000 samples interviews with international tourists and 200,000 with Thai domestic tourists. Expenses included accommodation, food and beverage, entertainment, travel, admission fees and miscellaneous.

The identified weak points in the study included a lack of staff to collect data and conduct interviews, no statistics on non-registered population that is considerable in each province, real revenue from tourism filtering through to investors and a lack of actual expenses on accommodation.

Ms Thanittha noted that international tourists spent a little less this year. In 2009, expenses per head averaged Bt4,011, while this year it dropped to Bt3,800 per head in Q1 and Bt3,700 per head in Q2. Tourists from the Middle East spent the most per day, while average daily expense of Europeans who stay longer was never more than Bt4,000. In 2009, the top three spenders were from UAE, Bt5,052 per head; Saudi Arabia, Bt5,012 per head and South Africa Bt4,777 per head.