Thailand expects the inaugural Tomorrowland Thailand music festival in December to attract at least 150,000 visitors and generate an estimated 6.13 billion baht in economic activity.
The forecast follows high-level talks between Thai tourism officials and Belgian organiser WEAREONE.world to review preparations for the event.
Tourism and Sports Minister Surasak Phancharoenworakul, accompanied by Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor Thapanee Kiatphaibool and senior TAT executives, recently met Bruno Vanwelsenaers, chief executive of WEAREONE.world (Tomorrowland Inc), in Boom, Belgium, to review progress on preparations for the globally renowned electronic dance music festival.
The festival will take place on Dec 11-13 in Chon Buri and will be Tomorrowland's first large-scale event in Asia.
Organisers expect attendance to exceed 150,000 over the three-day festival, averaging 50,000 visitors a day.
They project that about 22,500 people, or 15%, will be Thai, while about 127,500, or 85%, will come from overseas.
The festival is expected to generate a total economic impact of 6.132 billion baht, equivalent to about €159 million, organisers say.
Of that amount, direct economic activity linked to staging the event is estimated at 1.1 billion baht.
The spending will benefit local suppliers through production services, staff wages, procurement of food and beverages, event operations, hospitality services and venue management.
A further 5.3 billion baht is expected to come from indirect tourism spending as festival-goers extend their stays in Thailand, contributing to retail, transport, restaurants and other tourism-related services.
The organisers also estimate the event will generate about 732 million baht in tax revenue.
About 590 million baht, or 81%, is expected to come from direct taxes, including value-added tax on visitor spending. The remaining 142 million baht is projected to come from indirect taxes, including corporate and personal income tax.
