Plans to extend the visa-free stay period
The Thai government is considering granting 90-day visa-free travel to more tourists from far-flung countries, particularly the US and some European nations.
The kingdom's tourism authority has taken the initiative to increase the maximum visa-free stay for long-haul tourists to 90 days. This will allow to strengthen the revenue from the tourist flow from distant countries. By 2024, the authority plans to increase their share of Thailand's total tourism revenue to 30%.
According to Siripakorn Cheawsamut, deputy head of the Tourism Authority for Europe, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas, a longer stay without visas encourages tourists to stay longer in the kingdom and spend more money on the trip.
Current visa-free regime
Thailand currently grants 30-day visa-free entry to citizens of more than 60 countries, including the US, UK, Germany, France and Scandinavian states.
Siripakorn said the temporary 90-day visa-free stay permit for Russian tourists last year proved effective. The official noted that in 2022, more than 100,000 foreigners applied for a 60-day tourist visa to Thailand. These were mostly visitors from the US, Britain, Sweden and Germany.
The Tourist Board estimates that extending the visa-free period will bring at least 1 million additional overnight stays to the country.
Outlook for tourist traffic in 2024
By 2024, the authority plans to increase the number of long-haul tourists to 10 million, which will account for 30% of the projected total flow of 35 million foreign visitors.
Before the pandemic in 2019, 9 million long-haul tourists visited Thailand (23% of the total of 40 million). Meanwhile, their share of the kingdom's total tourism revenue amounted to 33% of the 1.9 trillion baht.
According to Siripakorn, in winter 2022-2023, the recovery of international flights to Thailand reached 80% of the pre-pandemic level. This contributes to the growth of tourist traffic from distant countries.
In addition, the authority intends to incentivize airlines to launch new routes to less-congested airports in Thailand.
Despite geopolitical risks and the economic downturn in Europe, tourism from the region remains important to the kingdom. The official said Europeans tend to spend more time in Thailand, offsetting the high cost of flying with inexpensive accommodation.
In 2023, the tourism authority expects a record flow from Russia (up to 2 million people), as well as more than 1 million tourists from the US, UK and Germany.
Author of the article: Ekaterina Antonova
