Budget for travel subsidy may tick up

The Tourism and Sports Ministry plans to talk with the Finance Ministry about increasing the budget for the travel subsidy scheme aimed at mitigating the flood impact for tourism firms in the North.
Tourism and Sports Minister Sorawong Thienthong said last week Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra held a meeting to discuss economic and tourism stimulus measures, including how to upgrade existing ones.
The meeting was held after Mr Sorawong visited Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, which were severely damaged by floods. He said during the meeting, the premier raised concerns over insufficient budget, questioning the effectiveness of the project because of the limited budget.
Mr Sorawong said he plans to discuss the issue with Deputy Finance Minister Julapun Amornvivat, proposing either an increase in the number of eligible people or expansion of the subsidy amount via the central budget.
The scheme is set to open for registration on Nov 1. The amount of additional budget and the project details should be finalised this week, he said.
Targeting 17 provinces affected by the floods, the ministry previously proposed a subsidy scheme in the form of a co-payment for travellers of up to 400 baht per trip for 10,000 tourists.
Mr Sorawong said this “quick-win” tactic could immediately be allocated from a Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) budget of 4 million baht. Roughly 70% of the subsidy budget would be allotted to trips in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai, with 30% for other provinces, he said.
The budget is small because the government wants to lure domestic tourists from nearby provinces initially, said Mr Sorawong.
“Some hotels in Chiang Mai have resumed service faster than expected,” he said. “Only 10% of overall areas were impacted, but some tourists were worried about visiting these destinations after watching the news.”
Mr Sorawong said the TAT is aggregating tourism products into its database and may link them with the government’s new Thang Rath app.
The next tourism promotion is the Thailand Winter Festival, combining several events during the high season to attract tourists to various cities.
Regarding the proposed “We Travel Together” scheme redux, which is anticipated for the next low season, the ministry is discussing an appropriate budget with the Finance Ministry, he said. During the pandemic, around 20 billion baht was utilised, but many fraud cases remain from that scheme, said Mr Sorawong.