Sawadikap: Visitors posing for photos during an event to welcome tourists from China at the airport in Bangkok. — Bloomberg
THE nation expects to attract 2.9 million arrivals and billions of dollars in revenue from a Chinese tourism boom as a result of a new five-month holiday period visa exemption programme, part of a bid to help strengthen the nation’s wobbly economic recovery.
Thailand has already seen a strong response after temporarily waiving visas for mainland visitors from Sept 25 through next February: More than 22,000 Chinese travellers entered Thailand in the programme’s first two days, government spokesman Chai Wacharonke said on an official Facebook page.
The country expects 140.3 billion baht (RM17.8bil) in tourism revenue from the programme, Chai said.
The visa waiver is expected to accelerate the return of Chinese tourists – the largest group of visitors to Thailand before Covid-19. Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin’s administration cleared the exemptions for Chinese and Kazakh travellers as part of its measures to jump-start the slow economic recovery.
The measure is part of Thailand’s goal to raise tourism revenue to pre-Covid levels, with a target of 3.1 trillion baht in 2024.
Thailand has welcomed 19.5 million foreign tourists so far this year, with as many as 28 million expected by year-end.
Travellers from Malaysia topped the list of travellers at 3.2 million, followed by Chinese at 2.4 million as of Sept 25, according to the tourism ministry.
About 650,000 mainlanders have booked trips to Thailand in October, according to Chai.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand expects Chinese arrivals of around 4 to 4.4 million this year, according to Chai – who added that the visa programme was well-timed to cover China’s Golden Week holidays this week, as well as new years celebrations. — Bloomberg
