In light of the continued slow growth in GDP, tourism is only sector that can contribute to economic expansion next year, despite concerns over political instability, said the Tourism Council of Thailand.
President Piyaman Tejapaibul is optimistic the country's tourism industry will remain healthy next year, even though rising political tensions may led to the dissolution of parliament in the near term.
Speaking at a seminar on 2014 economic outlook held by Thammasat University's Faculty of Economics yesterday, Ms Piyaman predicted that the number of international tourists would reach a record 28 million, 8% growth year-on-year, generating 2.02 trillion baht in revenue or 12% of Thailand's GDP.
Spending by foreign travellers is expected to contribute 1.32 trillion baht in revenue, with domestic tourism fetching 700 billion.
Thailand's rich natural attractions and strong tourism industry are the key factors for foreign travellers, even though the country's competitiveness has declined compared to neighbouring countries because of political instability, said Ms Piyaman said.
"We faced political chaos every six months for the past few years. Tourism operators adjusted to handle the issue every time, working hard to manage the risk factor," she said.
In 2011, the World Economic Forum ranked Thailand's competitiveness in tourism at No.3 in Asean, yet it was still behind Singapore and Malaysia and No.41 globally. Thailand ranked 10th and 15th in terms of revenue from tourists and arrivals, respectively.
Ms Piyaman said the anti-government protests that started two weeks ago have not yet hurt tourism.
If the situation doesn't get out of hand and there is no violence, the industry would meet this year's target of 26.2 million tourist arrivals and 1.8 trillion baht in revenue, she said.
She added she supports the government's 2-trillion-baht infrastructure investment as it would improve the country's transportation network, which would in turn would give a boost to tourism.