The cabinet on Tuesday agreed to extend the fee exemption for hotel operators of 40 baht per room per year for a period of two years, from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2026, to reduce the expenses of hoteliers affected by the pandemic.
According to Karom Polpornklang, deputy spokesman for the Prime Minister’s Office, the cabinet approved in principle the draft law to exempt fees for hotel business operations.
The two-year fee exemption for hotel operators proposed by the Interior Ministry is expected to help those affected by the pandemic.
“This fee exemption will result in a loss of 27.1 million baht per year in state revenue, based on 677,493 hotel rooms this year,” said Mr Karom.
“This exemption should help ease the burden for hotel operators still unable to recover from the pandemic slowdown.”
Thailand welcomed 14.8 million foreign visitors during the first five months this year, a 38% jump year-on-year.
These visitors generated more than 700 billion baht in revenue.
The government is targeting 36.7 million foreign visitors this year, which is expected to boost GDP by 0.12 percentage points.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said he wants to drive Thailand’s tourism industry forward because it can propel the economy.
The push involves improving the quality of the industry’s employees as part of the “Ignite Thailand” vision adopted as a development agenda initiated by the premier.
The vision aims to establish Thailand as a regional tourism hub.