Thailand’s tourist industry has welcomed its first tourists since regular travelers were banned from entering almost seven months ago.
They have started with a no-quarantine policy for Chinese tourists.
As Thailand will welcome its first batch of tourists at the end of the month, the country is reportedly in talks with China to exempt Chinese tourists from the required 14-day quarantine by 2021.
According to Tourism Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the exemption may push through if the limited reopening of Thailand for international tourism will be a success. He added that the current 14-day quarantine will be replaced by coronavirus testing and mobile tracking app.
Chinese tourists accounted for more than a quarter of Thailand’s international tourists and may be the first low-risk country that will sign up for quarantine-free travel. Most Chinese visitors come to Thailand for a week, so being quarantined would not be worth the trip for many.
Based on official data, around 11 million Chinese tourists visited Thailand in 2019 and contributed USD 17 billion to the tourism industry.
The visitors who arrived at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport are pioneers in a "Special Tourist Visa" program devised by Thai authorities to restore step by step a sector of the economy that welcomed almost 40 million foreign visitors last year and by some estimates accounts for more than 10% of the country’s GDP.
China was a natural choice for restarting tourism. Thailand was one of the top overseas destinations for Chinese tourists in 2019, when they accounted for by far the largest number of visitors to Thailand by nationality. Just as crucial is that China has largely contained the virus domestically, in sharp contrast to other countries.
Thailand has had only a handful of domestic cases since June, and China's few local outbreaks have dissipated quickly after authorities took steps such as testing entire cities and quarantining communities with potential exposure.
WHAT OTHER COUNTRIES ARE OPEN APART FROM CHINA?
Aside from China, Thailand may also establish travel corridors with places such as Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.
Thailand has struggled to reopen its borders due to concern among the public and fear of second wave of infections. The kingdom managed COVID-19 infection within its borders with more than 3,600 cases recorded at the time of this writing.
To further attract travellers, Maldives is now the first destination which has introduced a loyalty programme. Majority of the resorts in the destinations are now open for travellers, also Maldives is set to allow guesthouses to function from this month.
What's happening in Maldives after they opened their gates for the tourists. Read here!