Identifying the determinants of tourism receipts of Thailand and relevant determinant-determinant interactions

by Suree Khemthong, Pramote Luenam, Till D. Frank, Lily Ingsrisawang

The study examined the determinants that affect tourism receipts in Thailand. To this end, quarterly data from eight main provinces of Thailand from the period 2015–2019 were used and constituted a repeated measures design. Accordingly, a generalized linear mixed model was applied for developing two different random intercept models by treating 1) province, and 2) a combination of province and calendar quarter as cluster-specific effects. It was found that determinants that increased tourism receipts were the number of visitors, the average cost per day, the length of stay of visitors, the presence of low-cost airlines, and a relatively low offence rate. Moreover, an increase in the number of visitors in the fourth quarter produced a higher amount of additional receipts as compared to a similar increase in the first quarter. Specifically, for Thailand attracting high-spending tourists and extending tourist visas for more than 30 days is recommended. Beyond Thailand, uncovering interaction effects as described above may help tourism agencies to focus their limited resources on the determinants that matter.