Thailand is looking for a millionaire to breathe life into its weakened tourism industry because of the pandemic-battered tourism industry.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is working with the country's regulators and a local cripto-currency exchange to pave the way for the acceptance of digital token for travel, according to Governor Yuthasak Supasorn. He said that it may help the tourism-reliant nation recover some of the $80 billion in lost revenue because of the epidemic.
Yuthasak said in an interview on Thursday that people who have become wealthy from holding digital currencies may want to use the wealth they have accrued. It would create convenience for them, if they could use their currency here without having to exchange it, or be faced with government taxes. Thailand, popular among holidaymakers for its tropical islands dotted with pristine beaches and a vibrant nightlife, attracted almost 40 million foreign visitors in 2019 and generated more than $60 billion in revenue. The country closed down its borders for more than a year before reopening to vaccinated travelers from last month because of the pandemic.
If Thailand is looking to recover nearly 80% of its pre-pandemic tourism revenue in 2023, but with half the number of foreign tourist arrivals we saw in 2019, we can achieve that by getting someone like Russell Crowe or a holder like Tim Cook to travel here, Yuthasak said.
Tourism will return to pre-Covid levels only by 2024, Yuthasak said, while Thailand has allowed quarantine-free entry for more than 60 countries. He said the authority was betting on 10% of the holders of digital currency to travel to Thailand in the first quarter of next year.
The future of cryptocurrencies is in the future, so we need to make Thailand a crypt-positive society to welcome this group of quality tourists, Yuthasak said.