10m foreign tourist target nears
published : 8 Dec 2022 at 09:25
writer: Gary Boyle
ORIGINAL SOURCE/WRITER: Poramet Tangsathaporn
Finance Minister Arkhom Termpittayapaisith said Thailand welcomed nearly 7.2 million foreign tourists during the first 10 months of this year, not far short of its 10 million target.
"We expect the tally will hit 10 million foreign tourists on Dec 10, which is one-fourth of the pre-Covid record in 2019. We expect this number will continue to grow in 2023," Mr Arkhom said while delivering his keynote speech at the Bangkok Post Year-End Forum 2022, titled "Thailand Insights 2023: Unlocking the Future".
The forum was held at the Centara Grand at CentralWorld on Wednesday.
He added that the economy in Q3/2022 recorded the fastest growth in a year of 4.5% as a result of the increase in tourism as the country approaches the high season and amid rising domestic consumption.
During 2023–2027, the government will aim to rebuild high-value tourism and attract affluent tourist groups consisting of wealthy global citizens, wealthy pensioners, professionals and highly skilled professionals, he said.
As for investment, he said Thailand attracted over 1 billion baht in foreign direct investment in the first 10 months of this year, up 72% from the previous year.
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Vocabulary
- affluent: rich, wealthy, has a lot of money and valuable things - ร่ำรวย, มั่งคั่ง
- consumption: the act of using energy, food or materials; the amount used - การบริโภคพลังงาน, การใช้หมดไป
- domestic: inside the country being talked about - ภายในประเทศ
- forum (noun): a place where people can express their ideas and opinions - ที่แสดงความคิดเห็น, การประชุมแสดงความคิดเห็น
- growth (noun): economic growth, an increase in economic activity - การเติบโต
- investment (noun): the act of investing money in something - การลงทุน
- keynote: the most important speech at an event -
- pensioner: a person who is receiving a pension (money received regularly after retirement), especially from the government - ผู้รับเงินบำนาญ
- professional: a person who does a job that needs special training and a high level of education - ผู้เชี่ยวชาญในวิชาชีพ,ผู้มีวิชาชีพ
- speech (n): a formal talk delivered to an audience -
- tally: a record or count of a number of items - การบันทึกจำนวน
- target: a particular number or amount that you want to achieve - เป้าหมาย