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Roundup: Thailand to turn cheap tourist spots into quality ones

Xinhua, July 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

Thailand plans to launch a fresh tourism strategy to turn inexpensive tourist destinations into quality ones, beginning from this year.

Tourism & Sports Minister Kobkarn Watanawarangkura said on Monday the planned tourism strategy, which is set for implementation until 2017, is primarily aimed to upgrade Thailand as currently being cheap, quantitative tourist spots to becoming quality destinations for all foreign visitors throughout the next few years.

"The planned strategy calls for the upgrading and rebranding of five clusters of our major tourist destinations to the extent that they will become quality tourist spots instead of being cheap, quantitative ones in the eye of foreign visitors.

"Under our sustainable tourism strategy, we expect to make some 2.5 trillion baht (about 75 billion U.S. dollars) in tourism earnings by 2017," said the tourism minister.

She said the authorities in charge of tourism promotion campaigns will no longer set a target on the number of world foreigners to visit Thailand in a year as had been the case in the past several years but will focus on the upgrading of the country' s major destinations as quality tourist spots.

In particular, Thailand expects to draw more high-end travelers than ever at varied destinations throughout the country, she said.

However, she added, the planned tourism strategy is yet to be submitted to the cabinet under Premier Prayut Chan-o-cha for approval.

The five clusters of major Thai tourist spots which are designed for promotion as quality destinations by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the Ministry of Tourism & Sports and other authorities include:

- The Lanna Zone covering the northern provinces of Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Lampoon, Lampang and Payao.

- The Andaman Sea Zone covering the coastal southern provinces of Phuket, Pang-nga, Trang and Satun.

- The Southern Isarn Zone covering the lower northeastern provinces of Nakorn Ratchasima, Buriram, Surin, Srisaket and Ubon Ratchathani.

- The Eastern Seaboard Zone covering the eastern provinces of Chonburi, Rayong, Chantaburi and Trat.

- The Western Seaboard Zone covering the western provinces of Petchburi, Prachuab Kirikhan, Chumporn and Ranong.

Meanwhile, several other provinces in all parts of the country will still be promoted as "destinations which must not be missed out" by foreign visitors.

Those spots which "must not be missed out" include the northern provinces of Petchaboon and Nan, the northeastern province of Loei, the western provinces of Samut Songkram and Ratchaburi and the southern province of Nakorn Sri Thammarat. Endi