Ep 218: Reviewing Tourism in Thailand in the First Half of 2024, with Vincent Vichit-Vadakan

This week, Thailand confirmed it IS targeting 40 million arrivals in 2024. Achieving this goal would set an annual record for Thailand and - crucially - surpass the 39.9 million visitors in 2019. It would be a stellar achievement.

So, it’s the perfect time to assess the year so far in Thai tourism - and look ahead - with Bangkok-based travel journalist Vincent Vichit-Vadakan. We discuss Thailand’s visa liberalisation measures in recent months, and its highly anticipated Soft Power Conference later in June - which will present a diverse vision of Thailand’s future, including tourism, culture, arts, cuisine, music, fashion and festivals among its 11 soft power pillars. Plus, we chat about new hotel and resort developments, the influence of TV series and movies filmed across Thailand and last-minute flight prices.

And, we look ahead to the Marriage Equality Bill being enshrined into law and its potential impact on tourism. Travelling beyond Thailand, we delve into EV tours in Laos, multigenerational travel from India and a major upcoming tourism development in Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo.