Thailand Privilege Card Co (TPC), operator of the Thailand Elite Card, is upbeat about the prospect of attracting 4,000 new members under a four-year plan to generate 3.5 billion baht.
The target is based on acquiring 1,000 members a year from 2013-16.
Reaching the goal would make TPC self-contained and clear its accumulated loss of 1.27 billion baht since inception, said Suraphon Svetasreni, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and TPC's board chairman.
TPC is working on a business restructuring to be proposed to Tourism and Sports Minister Chumpol Silpa-archa for approval. The company plans to ask for 80 million baht from the ministry to fund operations this year.
Under the new business plan, the TAT will shift its focus away from Europe and towards Asia, the Middle East and South Africa, said Mr Suraphon.
Privileges will be divided into three levels: platinum, gold and silver. TPC plans to work with the Commerce Ministry and the Board of Investment to list prospective names of by-invitation-only platinum and gold members. For silver members, TPC will promote the card in the mass media.
Privileges include a five-year visa and limo service 48 times a year.
Initially, new cardholders will get a 15-year membership instead of a lifetime as in the past. The membership fee will be set at 100,000 baht per year. TPC now has 2,563 members.
If the cabinet lets the TAT revive Elite Card operations, an additional 500 million baht will be needed to raise paid-up capital to 1 billion, said Mr Suraphon.