BANGKOK: The country’s tourism sector has experienced a robust recovery based on new registrations of tourism-related businesses in the first four months of this year.
Tourists arrive for an hour-long visit to Maya Bay beach in the Phi Phi islands in Krabi province. Photo: Bangkok Post
The Commerce Ministry reported on Friday (May 11) the number of newly registered tourism-related businesses doubled year-on-year over the first four months to 2,579, with combined registered capital of B6.66 billion, up by 135%, reports the Bangkok Post.
The majority of new registrations in this segment comprise: foreign currency exchange, travel agencies, tour guides, restaurants and food enterprises, and hotels, resorts and serviced apartments.
Commerce Minister Jurin Laksanawisit said this growth is a result of the country’s economic rebound and improved tourism outlook, demonstrated by rising consumer and business confidence indices.
In the first four months, there were a total of 32,223 new business registrations, an increase of 16.2%, with registered capital of B360bn, a gain of 46.8%.
The Business Development Department predicts new business registrations in the first half of 2023 will total 42,000 to 45,000, with the tally for the entire year at 75,000 to 78,000.
In a related development, the department reported yesterday 6,041 businesses nationwide applied for corporate registration in April, up 12% year-on-year.
These new corporations had registered capital of B20.9bn, down 88% year-on-year.
The top three newly established sectors were real estate, general building construction, and hotels and restaurants.
Based on registered capital, the range with the most new registrations was less than B1 million, totalling 3,971 businesses or 65.7%, followed by capital of B1-5mn with 1,985 businesses, or 32.9%.
The next capital range was B5-100mn with 67 businesses or 1.11% of total new registrations, followed by more than B100mn, which had 18 businesses or 0.30%.
In terms of businesses that ceased operations in April, there were 936 with registered capital of B5.17bn, an increase of 10% year-on-year, according to the department.
The top three businesses that ceased operations were general building construction, real estate, and hotels and restaurants.
As of April 30, there were 871,041 companies operating in Thailand with a total capital value of B21.2 trillion, according to department figures.
These businesses can be classified into three types: limited partnerships (202,544 businesses, accounting for 23.3%), limited companies (667,100 businesses, accounting for 76.6%) and public companies (1,397 businesses, accounting for 0.16%).
