Thailand May Add Tourism Fee and Expand Domestic Hotel Subsidy

Hotels in Thailand still want the government to accelerate the launch of the new phase of the domestic stimulus scheme even with an influx of Chinese tourists expected to show up. The Thai Hotels Association said the “We Travel Together” hotel subsidy scheme provides integral support for hotels and domestic tourists in terms of spending but they believe the allocation of 560,000 rooms for the new phase might be too low to generate income for the industry nationwide. They want things tweaked like allowing bookings only on weekdays to help steer tourists to less crowded days. They also believe the government should continue subsidizing conference meetings that use hotel services and persuade large corporate and government agencies to hold meetings in the provinces. Meanwhile, the government in Thailand is planning to impose a new THB300 ($9) tourism fee starting in June. Tourism operators said they are re-evaluating expectations for bookings as the “landing fee” com