An increase in the number of new tourism operators participating in the tourism fair this year indicates growing optimism towards domestic travel, says the organiser of Thai Teaw Thai tourism fair.
Krit Patarapal, managing director of PK Exhibition, said the portion of newly registered operators for next week's event has grown by 30%, as domestic tourism has started to recover.
He said the country's reopening might lift travel sentiment for the international market, but operators still regard local tourists as the key driver.
Besides new hotels taking part in the fair, there are local communities that want to promote their tourism products more via a physical event.
He said the size of the fair almost matches pre-Covid events, with an increase from 500 booths last year to 700 this year.
However, the number of visitors is unpredictable as the flow will be restricted under the rules of the Department of Health.
The fair is expected to generate 150 million baht -- only 50% of the 2019 level -- because some operators want to showcase new products rather than seek hard sales.
Mr Krit said the promotions this year can reap the benefits from the 'We Travel Together' stimulus campaign as operators can offer bundled packages.
As of Nov 18, 1.2 million rooms in the stimulus campaign were booked by 427,826 users, of which the government helped subsidise 1.7 billion baht from total spending of 4.6 billion.
Meanwhile, response to Tour Teaw Thai -- the one million tour package subsidy -- remains tepid with only 6,411 packages sold.
"Travel fairs are like fresh marts, even though there are plenty of convenience stores and online platforms, people still want to find tourism products they cannot find elsewhere, especially Generation X," Mr Krit said.
"There is no sunset for travel fairs, but we have to adjust to hybrid events as well as shifting to business-to-business events," he said.
This year, two of its four annual events were cancelled which cut revenue by half. However, income might fully recover next year if all events can run as usual.
He said many second-tier provinces have potential to introduce low-carbon tourism to attract new generation travellers, but the lack of the Safety and Health Administration (SHA) standard is an obstacle.
