Luo Lan, director of Thailand’s Shanghai National Tourism Administration Office, told reporters that tourism in Thailand has returned to the normal state before the epidemic, and large public areas such as scenic spots, hotels, restaurants and shopping malls have been. open as usual, also start to increase. “The Thai government has always attached great importance to promoting the recovery of the Chinese tourist market,” he said.
From 0:00 on January 8, my country’s policies such as the cancellation of post-entry nucleic acid testing and central isolation, and the optimization of personnel exchanges between the mainland and Hong Kong and Macao have officially come into force. With the adjustment of the epidemic prevention and control policy, external tourism has also resumed in an orderly manner.
Thailand welcomes a steady stream of Chinese tourists. According to the agency’s statistics, almost half of the tourists out of China go to Thailand. According to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism’s annual national travel agency statistical survey report, Thailand is among the top ten in the number of outbound trips organized by travel agencies throughout the year, and is ranked first in 2020 and 2019.
On January 9, Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand held a grand welcome ceremony to welcome the first Chinese flight to Thailand after the adjustment of China’s immigration policy. Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Health Minister Anutin, Thailand’s Transport Minister Chijobu, and Tourism and Sports Minister Pippa went to the airport to welcome Chinese tourists.
In the middle of January, a reporter from “Daily Economic News” interviewed Luo Lan, the director of the Shanghai Office of the National Tourism Administration of Thailand. He told reporters that Thailand’s tourism has returned to the normal state before the epidemic, and major tourist attractions, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls, etc. All the public places are open as usual, and the number of tourists has also started to increase as the Chinese New Year approaches. At present, China’s group tour has not been officially released, and is looking forward to the full liberalization of outbound travel.
On January 19, the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council held a press conference. It was mentioned at the meeting that Omicron and Delta recombinations had recently been found in Thailand.
Will this have an impact on Chinese tourists visiting Thailand? The Shanghai National Tourism Administration Office in Thailand told the reporter from “Daily Economic News” that there is no obvious impact on tourism to Thailand.
Tourism in Thailand has returned to pre-epidemic normal
“China has always been a very popular source of tourists to Thailand, and accounts for a very high proportion of Thailand’s international tourists.” Luo Lan, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand data, introduced the number of Chinese tourists to Thailand. it was only 2.78 million in 2012. In 2019, Chinese tourists to Thailand reached 10.9974 million, accounting for a quarter of the market share of international tourists in Thailand. From a data point of view, it has increased almost 3 times in 8 years.
Outbound tourism has begun to resume, and Thailand has become the first choice for Chinese tourists. Thailand is also working hard to prepare for the arrival of Chinese tourists. Luo Lan said that China and Thailand on the one hand maintain close communication at the government level and have introduced various support policies for tourists; on the other hand, the offices of the Tourism Authority of Thailand in China cooperate with major online OTAs in China to conduct live online broadcasts and offer hotel discounts, pre-sales etc.
“The Thai government has always placed the promotion of the recovery of the Chinese tourist market at an extremely important height. Therefore, on January 8 this year, three Thai ministers gathered at Bangkok Airport to welcome the arrival of Chinese tourists. In addition, the Authority Thailand Tourism also actively promotes the Chinese and Thai business. Exchange and interaction with investors, actively prepare for product updates, and actively prepare for the opening of the market. “Roland said.
Roland said that tourism in Thailand has returned to the normal state before the epidemic, and large public areas such as scenic spots, hotels, restaurants, and shopping malls have opened as usual. As the Chinese New Year approached, the number of tourists also began to increase. Judging from past experience, from October to December, European and American tourists are mainly on Christmas and New Year’s holidays, and from New Year’s Day to Spring Festival, they gradually turn to Asian tourists. At present, the number of Chinese tourists is steadily increasing.
According to Ctrip data, since January, hotel bookings destined for Thailand have increased by 480% year-on-year, and bookings from mainland Chinese tourists accounted for more than 30%. During the same period, hotel bookings from mainland Chinese tourists to Thailand increased almost 21 times year on year, and doubled from the same period last month. During the Lunar New Year holiday in the Year of the Rabbit, hotel bookings from mainland tourists to Thailand increased nearly 12 times year on year.
Chinese tourists on the road
Tens of millions of Chinese tourists have gone abroad. As the first choice for many Chinese people to travel abroad, how to ensure the safety of tourists has become an important issue facing Thailand.
On January 19, the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council held a press conference. It was mentioned at the meeting that Thailand had recently detected the recombinant strain of Omicron and Delta-Delta Coron.
Roland said that in order to ensure the safety of tourists, in fact, as early as the beginning of the epidemic, the National Tourism Administration of Thailand, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, and the Ministry of Public Health of Thailand jointly launched the “Safety and Health Label Certification Magic Thailand” (Health and Safety Administration, referred to as SHA), all Thai tourism businesses that have obtained this certification will become health and safety tourism organizations recognized by the Thai government.
The aim of launching this certification is to improve the safety and health standards of the Thai tourism industry, allow the tourism industry to participate in epidemic control, ensure the safety and health of tourists, and effectively prevent and reduce the rate of new infections. crown virus.
In July 2021, Thailand launched the “Sandbox Plan.” For tourists from countries with a low and medium risk of new coronary pneumonia infection, as long as they are fully injected with 2 shots of the new crown vaccine, they can enter Phuket without isolation. . From November 1, 2021, Thailand announced that it will expand the scope of non-quarantine entry of these tourists to the whole of Thailand, and they can “try and go”. Tourists from countries and regions outside the restrictions who have received complete vaccinations can continue to travel to 17 pilot areas without quarantine for 7 days through the “Sandbox Program” After 7 days, if there is no problem, they can go to any part of Thailand. .
From July 2022, tourism in Thailand will be further liberalized. In addition to the necessary passports and visas, foreign tourists can only enter Thailand without quarantine 72 hours before travel with a complete vaccination certificate for the new crown vaccine or a negative nucleic acid certificate. . In October 2022, Thailand launched a comprehensive open tourism policy: no isolation, no tests, no inspection of the new crown vaccination certificate.
According to media reports, in December 2022, Thailand’s tourism department proposed a plan, hoping that the Thai government can provide free booster shots of the new crown vaccine for international tourists, including Chinese tourists, and Thai tourism workers.
Thailand’s Minister of Tourism and Sports, Pippa, once said that if tourists spend an average of 40,000 baht locally, including the 7% value-added tax charged by the government, its value will be higher than the price of vaccines. Explore the feasibility of this offer.
However, the policy of providing free booster shots of the new crown vaccine has not yet been introduced in Thailand, and it is unclear whether the Deltakron strain found in Thailand will have an impact on the tourism industry.
The Spring Festival is approaching, and tourists are on their way. At present, the group tour in China has not been officially released, and Roland said that he is looking forward to the full liberalization of outbound travel.
(Su Dongni)
