Tourism income from 2.6 million domestic trips during the Mother's Day holiday this year is estimated to reach 9.39 billion baht, dipping from recent back-to-back long holidays in July, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
The previous two holidays in July recorded 9.58 billion baht in tourism revenue, but the projection for the Mother's Day three-day weekend is slightly weaker as some people spent their travel budget last month, said TAT governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool.
Ms Thapanee said high household debts and the cost of living were also taken into account as people exercise extra caution when deciding on leisure trips.
Those with high purchasing power might also choose overseas trips with their mothers to celebrate a special occasion, instead of staying home, she added.
"With high competition from overseas trips, especially from nearby countries that offer tour packages with an affordable price of only 10,000 baht, some tourists decided to book outbound trips as a gift for their mothers," said Ms Thapanee.
The countries which expected to gain outbound market share from Thailand included Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and China, which exempt visas for Thais.
Ms Thapanee said the average hotel occupancy during the upcoming long weekend would reach 68% for the whole country, with the central region and Bangkok recording the highest occupancy rate at 73% and 72%, respectively.
The central region would also attract the most visitors with 672,740 trips, while the Northeast would gain 485,690 trips, followed by the eastern region at 463,640 trips.
Bangkok is forecast to secure the most revenue with 2.32 billion baht, followed by the eastern region with 1.98 billion baht, and the South at 1.5 billion baht.
Ms Thapanee said TAT's projection aligned with the Tourism Council of Thailand's forecast, which estimated that 30% of local travellers would choose to travel within their provinces, while only 14% would take one-day and overnight-stay trips in other provinces.
The agency will use many events this weekend to draw tourists to more destinations outside of Bangkok, such as Amazing Food Festival 2024, which will be held in Prachuap Khiri Khan between Aug 10-12, and Amazing Beach Life Festival in Songkhla, which starts today and continues through Aug 11.