The Department of Tourism (DoT) is pledging three initiatives in a bid to strengthen the tourism industry in 2018.
The three projects are promoting night markets in three major tourist destinations, namely in Ayutthaya, Chiang Mai and Chon Buri; organising business-matching for job seekers and startups involved in tourism; and creating a new digital platform to provide real-time travel information for tourists.
Director-general Anan Wongbenjarat said the first night market to be promoted will be in Ayutthaya province, followed by Chiang Mai and Pattaya in Chon Buri province.
"Ayutthaya is a model for the night market. The province has great heritage sites and welcomes a lot of tourists every day. It is not too far from Bangkok, but not many tourists stay overnight, so we will try to encourage visitors to spend at least one night in this province," Mr Anan explained.
The department expects to extend lengths of stay in Chiang Mai in the North and Chon Buri in the East.
According to Mr Anan, the DoT plans to organise business-matching in the coming year. The event will be a venue where tourism professionals such as tourist guides and job seekers can meet with small and medium-sized business operators as well as tourism-related startups.
Job seekers and new graduates will have a chance to find work in the tourism industry at the event. The DoT is still working on venues and dates for event.
Mr Anan also revealed plans and implementation directions for 2018, saying the DoT will use more innovation and digital platforms to drive the industry and use the department as a tool to respond to the government's Thailand 4.0 framework.
"The Thailand 4.0 model will be implemented in tourism. The department plans to provide a new platform where tourists can gain almost real-time travel information and updates on attractions they plan to visit," he said.
The department said tourism information will be provided by and linked to real users though social networks so other tourists are able to access information and decide whether they will visit a place or not.
The platform will also help tourists to get a clearer impression of the places they visit, be happier with the goods they purchase and enjoy the activities they do. The platform will also help visitors avoid visiting places and buying products from stores found to be unfair or unsafe.
Tourists will be able to share their experiences via the new platform, on which the DoT expects to invest 3-5 million baht to develop.
"The aim is not only to give real-time information to tourists but also to abolish bad operators in the market. This will be a tourist satisfaction index," he added.
Urgent problems that need to be resolved include illegal operators and non-registered tourist guides in the Chinese market, as well as tourist safety. The department is scheduled to meet officials from the China National Tourism Administration on Dec 14 for further collaboration.