Thai sentiment for travel remains upbeat and many are willing to spend more on their trips despite the poor economic conditions and escalating concerns about deflation.
Thai travellers are ready to pay if the prices of package tours are reasonable and the tourism destinations are new, said Krit Patarapal, managing director of PK Exhibition, the organiser of the Thailand Travel Expo.
The 38th Thailand Travel Expo (Thai Tiew Thai) held from March 3-6 drew over 500,000 visitors with spending of at least 600 million baht, up 9% from a previous event.
The 18th Thai International Travel Fair 2016 organised by the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA) from Feb 17-21 reported spending increased by 15% to 700 million baht from 500,000 visitors.
"The turnout at the event clearly reflects that Thai tourism remains brilliant," he said, adding the tourism sector has benefited from lower oil prices.
Aggressive promotion campaigns such as buy-one-get-one-free also helped boost demand from Thai travellers, said Mr Kris, as Thais are looking for value-for-money packages.
"Even in a worst-case scenario, I still believe Thais love travelling to take a break from economic tension, but the length of their stay may be shorter and the destinations closer," he said.
With active sentiment, both TTAA and PK are confident the domestic tourism target of 850 billion baht is achievable this year.
"We're a bit surprised to see such active spending among Thai travellers despite the economic slowdown," said Suparerk Soorangura, president of TTAA. "We expect overall tourism sentiment in Thailand will remain bullish in the first half this year."
Big travel agents reported sales at their events were 10-15% higher than last year, said the TTAA.
Apart from popular destinations in Japan, attractive prices for package tours to Europe helped drive sales. Prices for package tours started from 45,000-80,000 baht, cheaper than 70,000-100,000 baht per package previously because of fare wars by Middle Eastern airlines and lower oil prices.
"2016 could be the year of the customer because of fierce competition from tour operators. Many countries also offer free visas to Thais such as Japan, Turkey, Asean members and Russia," said Mr Suparerk.
Extra public holidays approved by the government for May and July could also help increase tourism. People can vacation from May 5-8 for Coronation day and July 16-20 for Asarnha Bucha day.
These extra holidays could benefit outbound tourism because Thais prefer to travel overseas if they have at least four days.