Thailand: Just 50,000 tourists expected until year-end
Tourism officials in Thailand said they expect a meager 50,000 tourists in the fourth quarter of this year, which is down 99.5 per cent from the same period last year.
According to Chairat Trirattanajarasporn, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, the tourists will have to follow strict procedures including a 14-day quarantine to enter amid the ongoing Coiv-19 crisis, and most of them will likely remain confined to Phuket which is the first resort destination to open for foreign tourist.
The first foreign vacationers on the newly introduced long-stay tourism visa will be flown in from China and are expected to arrive in Phuket in mid-October to help rebuild a key destination devastated by travel restrictions.
Thailand has been looking for ways to support its battered economy by restarting the tourism industry which is critical for the country’s entire economy to which tourism contributes about 20 per cent.
However, the first steps for reopening are only a drop in the bucket. The estimate for receipts from foreign tourism in the fourth quarter have been set at 4.5 billion baht ($142 million) in the quarter, down 99 per cent from the same period last year.
Widely differing expectations for visitor numbers in 2021
Overall, the council predicts 6.74 million foreign tourists this year, down 83 per cent from a year earlier when Thailand welcomed a record 39.8 million visitors. It added that the outlook for next year remains uncertain as long as there was no vaccine and quarantine and Covid-19 insurance regulations remain in place.
Estimates for foreign arrivals in 2021 therefore differ widely from “only hundreds of thousands of tourists,” according to the tourism council president, to 20 million as per the much brighter outlook of the Thai Tourism Authority, the country’s official marketing body for tourism.
The country has had relatively few coronavirus infections compared to most countries and halted foreign tourism and commercial flights in April to try to keep the virus out.
Empty beach in Phuket, Thailand Tourism officials in Thailand said they expect a meager 50,000 tourists in the fourth quarter of this year, which is down 99.5 per cent from the same period last year. According to Chairat Trirattanajarasporn, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, the tourists will have to follow strict procedures including a 14-day quarantine to enter amid the ongoing Coiv-19 crisis, and most of them will likely remain confined to Phuket which is the first resort destination to open for foreign tourist. The first foreign vacationers on the newly introduced long-stay tourism visa will be flown...
Tourism officials in Thailand said they expect a meager 50,000 tourists in the fourth quarter of this year, which is down 99.5 per cent from the same period last year.
According to Chairat Trirattanajarasporn, president of the Tourism Council of Thailand, the tourists will have to follow strict procedures including a 14-day quarantine to enter amid the ongoing Coiv-19 crisis, and most of them will likely remain confined to Phuket which is the first resort destination to open for foreign tourist.
The first foreign vacationers on the newly introduced long-stay tourism visa will be flown in from China and are expected to arrive in Phuket in mid-October to help rebuild a key destination devastated by travel restrictions.
Thailand has been looking for ways to support its battered economy by restarting the tourism industry which is critical for the country’s entire economy to which tourism contributes about 20 per cent.
However, the first steps for reopening are only a drop in the bucket. The estimate for receipts from foreign tourism in the fourth quarter have been set at 4.5 billion baht ($142 million) in the quarter, down 99 per cent from the same period last year.
Widely differing expectations for visitor numbers in 2021
Overall, the council predicts 6.74 million foreign tourists this year, down 83 per cent from a year earlier when Thailand welcomed a record 39.8 million visitors. It added that the outlook for next year remains uncertain as long as there was no vaccine and quarantine and Covid-19 insurance regulations remain in place.
Estimates for foreign arrivals in 2021 therefore differ widely from “only hundreds of thousands of tourists,” according to the tourism council president, to 20 million as per the much brighter outlook of the Thai Tourism Authority, the country’s official marketing body for tourism.
The country has had relatively few coronavirus infections compared to most countries and halted foreign tourism and commercial flights in April to try to keep the virus out.
