The number of outbound travellers from Thailand is expected to reach 10 million in 2020, growing 29% from 7.74 million last year.
Japan is set to remain the top destination, thanks to its visa waiver for Thai visitors, launched in 2013.
Ittirit Kinglake, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT), said tourism organisations and operators in many countries in Southeast Asia and East Asia have been offering attractive promotions and privileges to lure Thai tourists.
"Many attractive packages for Thai people plus extra privileges from hotels and airlines are working. Total Thai tourists are expected to reach 10 million within the next three years, up from 7.74 million in 2016," he said.
Tourism, he said, is a two-way business and Thailand has already gained the highest number of international tourists in the Southeast Asian region with over 32 million last year.
The Thai Travel Agents Association, a group of outbound tour operators which organised the 20th Thai International Travel Fair in February this year, reported that the event drew national tourism organisations and major operators from China, Japan, the Philippines, Indonesia and South Korea, to attract the Thai tourist market.
The association revealed that 7.74 million Thai tourists travelled abroad last year, an increase of 13.9% from 2015. Half of them visited neighbouring countries, particularly Laos, Cambodia, Singapore, Myanmar and southern China.
Japan was the most popular destination, welcoming 796,700 visitors from Thailand in 2015, triple the figures prior to the visa waiver.
International tourist arrivals to Japan climbed to 19.7 billion in 2015, while 16.2 Japanese travelled abroad.
Thai tourists spent an average of 30,064 baht per overseas trip last year, up 2.15% from the earlier year. In total, Thai tourists spent 232 billion baht on overseas trips last year, representing a 16.4% increase from 2015.
Pongpanu Svettarundra, permanent-secretary at the Tourism and Sports Ministry, yesterday said Thailand received 12 million foreign tourists during January-April, a surge of 2.91% year-on-year. Revenue from foreign visitors was 622 billion baht or 4.71% up from the first four months of 2016.
During the first four months, local tourists made 49.6 million domestic trips, up 3.22%. Thai residents generated 227 billion baht in revenue to the tourism industry.
The ministry, however, showed that the average hotel occupancy rate in the first quarter was at 73.4%, a modest growth of 0.6% from last year.
In April alone, 2.82 million foreign tourists visited Thailand, a 6.97% increase from April 2016, while income was 140 billion baht, up 7.64%.
The top seven inbound markets in April were China (748,100), Malaysia (312,730), Laos, (120,400), Korea (116,420), Japan (111,490), India (107,450) and Russia (106,630).