Thailand pessimistic about 2021 tourism season
Thailand’s tourism officials do not have the best hopes for a quick revival of the tourism industry next year as the Covid-19 situation remains unclear and there is not much good news for people wishing to get back to Thailand right now in terms of visas and other paperwork.
Tourism lobby groups such as the Thai Hotel Association and the Thailand Travel Agents Association have been demanding that the Thai government drops its mandatory quarantine provisions and negotiates travel corridors with provinces in China and other nations that are currently “low risk” for Covid-19, including Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan.
However, minster for sports and tourism Pipat Ratchakitprakan did not approve which means that quarantine and a lot of red-tape remains in place for the time being and nobody knows when this would be changed.
“The country will continue with opening to businessmen, technical experts, high level workers and those in the medical field for now. 14 day quarantine will continue for now with many countries still in the grip of the pandemic,” the minister said, adding that the country is likely to remain closed for “normal” tourists until the middle of next year.
Vaccinated tourists likely allowed to enter by mid-2021
Meanwhile, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is also writing off most of 2021, making its plans for full recovery in 2022.
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said that next year’s tourism outlook was “difficult to predict” and, thus, the organization has launched a “Project Phoenix” to have Thailand rise from the ashes of the pandemic to generate up to 2.5 trillion baht ($83 billion) in tourism revenue in 2022, 83 per cent of 2019’s income.
The fact that, two years from now, tourism still is expected to be 17 percentage points lower than 2019 shows the lasting impact the coronavirus pandemic will have on the world.
Yuthasak said the tourism market in 2022 will look very different from 2019, with tourists who previously came to Thailand having different travel priorities. That means Thailand must focus on tourists who spend more and stay longer than in the past.
Vaccinated tourists will likely be allowed to return to Thailand in the middle of next year without having to undergo quarantine. That should see the industry start to recover in the third quarter, driven by European tourists, he said.
Thailand’s tourism officials do not have the best hopes for a quick revival of the tourism industry next year as the Covid-19 situation remains unclear and there is not much good news for people wishing to get back to Thailand right now in terms of visas and other paperwork. Tourism lobby groups such as the Thai Hotel Association and the Thailand Travel Agents Association have been demanding that the Thai government drops its mandatory quarantine provisions and negotiates travel corridors with provinces in China and other nations that are currently “low risk” for Covid-19, including Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, Australia,...
Thailand’s tourism officials do not have the best hopes for a quick revival of the tourism industry next year as the Covid-19 situation remains unclear and there is not much good news for people wishing to get back to Thailand right now in terms of visas and other paperwork.
Tourism lobby groups such as the Thai Hotel Association and the Thailand Travel Agents Association have been demanding that the Thai government drops its mandatory quarantine provisions and negotiates travel corridors with provinces in China and other nations that are currently “low risk” for Covid-19, including Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan.
However, minster for sports and tourism Pipat Ratchakitprakan did not approve which means that quarantine and a lot of red-tape remains in place for the time being and nobody knows when this would be changed.
“The country will continue with opening to businessmen, technical experts, high level workers and those in the medical field for now. 14 day quarantine will continue for now with many countries still in the grip of the pandemic,” the minister said, adding that the country is likely to remain closed for “normal” tourists until the middle of next year.
Vaccinated tourists likely allowed to enter by mid-2021
Meanwhile, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is also writing off most of 2021, making its plans for full recovery in 2022.
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said that next year’s tourism outlook was “difficult to predict” and, thus, the organization has launched a “Project Phoenix” to have Thailand rise from the ashes of the pandemic to generate up to 2.5 trillion baht ($83 billion) in tourism revenue in 2022, 83 per cent of 2019’s income.
The fact that, two years from now, tourism still is expected to be 17 percentage points lower than 2019 shows the lasting impact the coronavirus pandemic will have on the world.
Yuthasak said the tourism market in 2022 will look very different from 2019, with tourists who previously came to Thailand having different travel priorities. That means Thailand must focus on tourists who spend more and stay longer than in the past.
Vaccinated tourists will likely be allowed to return to Thailand in the middle of next year without having to undergo quarantine. That should see the industry start to recover in the third quarter, driven by European tourists, he said.
