The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) plans to create a utility token called the TAT coin. To implement it in the country’s financial network, though, the state agency would need approval from the related organizations.
According to a recent report by Bangkok Post, the Tourism Authority of Thailand aims to attract cryptocurrency owners to the country by launching its own utility token. Named after the entity, the TAT coin would enable the transfer of vouchers and help tour operators gain greater liquidity.
Mr. Yuthasak – Governor of the TAT – praised cryptocurrencies as an asset class that is “changing the world.” As such, the state agency had to jump on the bandwagon and attempt to recover the country from the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thailand is known as one of the most-visited countries across the globe, and the potential cryptocurrency initiative might attract more travelers.
On the other hand, Yuthasak noted that the initiative requires good preparation to be successful. People in the tourism sector would also have to learn more about digital assets:
“We have to prepare digital infrastructure and digital literacy for our tourism operators in order to commence cryptourism as the traditional business model might not be able to keep up with the new changes.”
Before launching the TAT coin, though, the agency would need approval from the country’s regulators as it may not have the jurisdiction to issue this type of digital token.
Apart from the utility token, the organization has other crypto initiatives in mind which might boost the country’s tourism level.
For example, it intends to join forces with the local trading venue Bitkub. The latter will feature the TAT coin or another digital asset such as non-fungible tokens to cope with the growing demand for cryptocurrency services. While NFTs can indeed be beneficial for the tourism sector, they are still illegal in Thailand.
To attract more visitors, the agency is also contemplating offering a bitcoin debit card at airports. Crypto owners would be able to use them during their trips in the “Land of the Smiles” without paying an additional fee at the ATM or money exchange.
It is worth noting that the current pandemic situation changed the lifestyle of a big percentage of the global population. Nowadays, many people work from home as they can do it from any part of the world. That might sound like good news for Thailand, as many of those individuals are actually crypto hodlers who can use the upcoming digital asset opportunities in the Southeast Asian country.