Easing visa formalities
The Thai government plans to ease visa procedures for citizens of China and India, two of the biggest sources of tourists before the pandemic. Currently, Chinese tourists face an expensive and cumbersome tourist visa application process. According to Prime Minister Sretta Tavisin, the process has become even more complicated in 2022. Indian citizens pay 2,000 baht (about $55) for a 15-day visa upon entry.
The government intends to ease visa formalities to encourage the inflow of tourists from these important source countries. This will help achieve the ambitious goal of increasing tourism revenue to $100 billion in 2023.
Expanding the list of visa-free countries
In addition, the Prime Minister has announced plans to expand the list of countries whose citizens can visit Thailand without a visa.
The government also intends to increase the length of stay for most international tourists, setting a limit of 15 or 30 days for many countries. This will allow tourists to spend more time in the country and spend more money.
Finding solutions together with airlines and airports
The Prime Minister held meetings with executives of major airlines and airport operators to find ways to increase tourist flow in the fourth quarter, the peak season.
The operator of Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi International Airport promised to eliminate bottlenecks to increase capacity by 20 percent. Measures will also be taken to speed up passport control.
The target is 3.3 trillion baht in tourism revenue in 2023
The new government has set an ambitious target to increase foreign tourist revenue to 3.3 trillion baht (about $90 billion) in 2023.
According to Sretta, the tourism industry is the best driver of economic growth in the short term. Before the pandemic, tourism accounted for 12 percent of Thailand's GDP and a fifth of all jobs.
Experts
Experts are generally positive about the government's plans, but note that visa facilitation for all countries may be a more effective measure than giving incentives to individual countries.
For example, the head of the Phuket Tourism Association believes that abolishing visa application fees will bring quick results for the entire industry. In July, he said, tourist traffic from China recovered only 30 percent from pre-pandemic levels.
Experts also recommend increasing the frequency of flights to popular tourist regions in Thailand and extending visa validity for tourists from Russia and other countries, who on average spend more money than the Chinese.
The recovery depends on the global economy
In general, analysts are positive about the proposed measures, but note that the speed of tourist flow recovery will largely depend on global economic conditions.
If China's economy continues to slow down, and the population's income decreases, the simplification of visa formalities may not bring the expected effect. Therefore, the Thai government may need to adjust its strategy depending on the development of the situation.
Author of the article: Ekaterina Antonova
