One month after Thailand opened to tourism, the kingdom has registered more than 133,000 arrivals from countries around the world.
The Tourism Authority of Thailand is confident that the target of 500,000 foreign tourists will be met, despite concerns over a new variant of Omicron Covid-19, which is causing countries to restrict or block travel from high-risk countries.
During November, 133,061 foreign tourists landed in Thailand, most of whom participated in the Test & Go program, which allows vaccinated travelers from 63 countries to enter Thailand without quarantine, except for an overnight stay in an approved hotel while awaiting the result of a Covid-19 PCR test.
Of the 133,061 travelers who arrived in Thailand in the first month after opening, 106,211 were Test & Go passengers.
An additional 21,438 tourists arrived through the Sandbox program, which requires a 7-day soft quarantine, during which travelers must remain at their destination for one week before continuing on their journey.
5,412 people used the Happy Quarantine option and were quarantined for 10 days upon arrival.
TAT Governor Yutasak Supasorn said they still expect foreign tourists to reach 500,000 by the end of 2021, although new numbers show signs of slowing growth in travel from some European countries.
Europe is one of Thailand’s main resource tourism markets, and the spread of the Covid-19 virus caused by the Omicron variant is likely to wreak havoc on the tourism sector, according to the President of the Thai Hotel Association, although it is unclear at this stage how significant the impact will be.
TAT believes Thailand can still meet the targets, noting that more than 300,000 people have applied online for the Thai Pass required to enter the country.
However, these numbers can be overstated as travelers often have to register multiple times to obtain a permit. It is unclear whether these multiple registrations are counted by the same person, whether each application and re-application is counted.
Ten countries of origin of tourists arriving in Thailand in November 2021 (number of visitors):
USA – 14,730
Germany – 12,099
Netherlands – 8,478
Great Britain – 6701
Russia – 5,307
Japan – 5146
South Korea – 5003
France – 4,741
UAE – 4338
Israel – 4035