The TAT wants to increase revenue from tourism to 3.5 trillion baht (£75 billion), and so they are looking into landing an increased budget to collaborate with airlines and secure new flight paths to streamline the process.

The so-called Airline Focus strategy is seen as a vital move to revive the nation's tourism industry after the pandemic.

As reported by Asean Now, TAT's Deputy Governor, Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, has called for extra extra funding to support joint ventures with stakeholders and airlines.

He noted the recovery trend with airlines is likely to peak in late 2024 and early 2025, and so he wants to encourage them to start flights to Thailand.

To kickstart these collaborations, the TAT needs funding to help establish profitable routes, which would then allow airlines to operate independently without needing further financial backing.

Even working within a limited budget, the TAT noted it has seen tourism growth thanks to partnerships with agencies and private-sector partners.

The authority's goal is to have global travellers from long-distance markets like Africa, Europe, the Americas and the Middle East make up 30 percent of its international tourists, and 40 percent of total foreign tourism revenue, this year.

The initiative comes after the pandemic had a significant impact on travel, with 77 percent of visitors to Thailand coming from long-haul destinations in 2021, compared to just 23 percent in 2019.