BANGKOK - Thailand is betting on "revenge spending' by tourists and a rush of travellers from Europe and the United States looking to trade harsh winter at home for tropical weather to accelerate a recovery in its tourism industry.

The country expects a 30 per cent increase in average spending per trip in 2023, according to Mr Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.

Tourists spent an average 55,000 baht (S$2,075) per trip in the second quarter of 2022, up 17 per cent from 47,000 baht seen before the pandemic.

As tourist arrivals will only gradually return to pre-Covid levels, Thailand will focus on extracting more from each visitor, Mr Yuthasak said, adding a slump in the baht's value against the US dollar to a 16-year low will spur spending.

Thailand is offering longer stays for tourists from about 70 countries during the so-called high season until March after scrapping all Covid-related entry curbs to lure holidaymakers from destinations, including long-haul European and North American markets.

High costs of gas and energy during the winter will incentivise westerners to escape the cold for Thailand, Mr Yuthasak said, adding the longer tourists stay, the more they spend.

"Save your money, lock your home and come to Thailand. Pay for a pool villa in Phuket instead of paying the energy bills," Mr Yuthasak said at a briefing. "We hope that, with revenge travelling, there will be a shift to revenge spending. They buy everything."

Thailand welcomed almost 40 million tourists in 2019, the year before the pandemic, generating more than US$62 billion (S$89 billion) in revenue, according to official data.

Tourist arrivals totaled 6.48 million in 2022 through Oct 9. The number is likely to top 10 million for the full year, up from less than half a million in 2021, according to Mr Yuthasak.

The number may double to 20 million in 2023, with tourism revenue seen at 2.49 trillion baht, or 80 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, he said.

The recovery may be faster, depending on how soon China will reopen borders that have been shut due to its strict zero-Covid policy, Mr Yuthasak said.

China used to be the biggest source of tourists in Thailand, making up more than a quarter of international arrivals before the pandemic.

China may start opening up around the Lunar New Year period that starts in late January, Mr Yuthasak said. BLOOMBERG