Samui tourism banking on TV show

Samui tourism operators expect a minimum 10% uptick in occupancy rates and more tourists visiting the shooting locations of the HBO series The White Lotus, which featured Thai pop star Lalisa “Lisa” Manoban.
The production’s budget of 1.2 billion baht made it eligible for the government’s cash rebate programme. 
The Tourism and Sports Ministry is preparing to upgrade the cash rebate scheme for foreign film shoots from a maximum of 20% to 30%, in addition to removing the criteria for filming budgets to allow productions of all sizes to benefit from the scheme.
Ratchaporn Poolsawadee, president of the Tourism Association of Koh Samui, said The White Lotus is a popular series on the global streaming platform HBO, particularly among US and European audiences.
The latest season includes Thai singer Lalisa Manoban in its cast, which means the shooting locations in Thailand should directly benefit the tourism industry, he said.
Mr Ratchaporn said during the pre-production phase, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Koh Samui tourism association encouraged the producers to consider shooting locations outside the resort, such as Taling Ngam beach and Fisherman Village Walking Street, aiming to showcase local lives.
The series hasn’t been released, so tourists can search for information about shooting locations on the island, but few have booked their holidays there based on the show, he said.
Mr Ratchaporn said inquiries for accommodation and attractions should pick up once the series is released.
Tourism operators are hopeful for an influx of tourists as they are now preparing their facilities and transportation as well as marketing campaigns.
He said Koh Samui still has sufficient capacity to accommodate tourists, with 50 daily flights, along with ferries and 30,000 hotel rooms.
As the public hearing has been done, Samui Airport is ready to increase operations to 73 daily flights by the end of this year.
According to the Tourism Department, shooting of The White Lotus in Thailand was permitted between Dec 21 last year and July 23, 2024.
Jaturon Phakdeewanit, director-general of the Tourism Department, said the filming budget of 1.2 billion baht has made them eligible for the 20% cash rebate.
Last year, total revenue from foreign film shoots was recorded at 6.7 billion baht. Over 500 million baht was paid back to production companies.
Mr Jaturon said revenue from foreign film shoots this year should reach 7.5 billion baht, of which 65% is eligible for the cash rebate.
This week, Tourism and Sports Minister Sorawong Thienthong said the ministry will propose upgrading the incentive to 30% and not limiting the cash rebate amount and investment budget.
Mr Jaturon said the revised scheme would not limit the cash rebate to 150 million baht, however, each investment would be eligible for a different percentage.
For instance, productions worth 50 million, 100 million and 150 million can apply for 15%, 20% and 25% cash rebates, respectively.
Additional incentives of 3% and 5% include using local post-production and employing Thais in key roles in the production, respectively.
Those who choose second-tier cities can gain an additional 3% cash rebate, while the requirement to feature Thailand in their stories would be reduced from 50% to 20%.
Thailand recently served as a shooting location for a film in the Alien franchise worth 3 billion baht, said Mr Jaturon.