Thai foreign tourism programs have failed again – two weeks after the opening of international borders, Thai tourism officials have sadly said that the sector is still “traveling” on domestic travelers rather than on foreign holidays – a failure for Thai tourism. Instead of the expected flow of tourists from foreigners, expats rushed to the resorts of the kingdom, they were the vast majority – 80%. This trend was reported by the Thai media.
Chiang Mai
According to trade representatives, in world-famous destinations for foreign tourism, such as Chiang Mai, Pattaya and Phuket, Thais themselves still remain the dominant tourist flow, the president of the Chiang Mai Tourism Council told reporters. According to him, on domestic flights the number of passengers arriving in Chiang Mai ranged from 1,000 to 2,000 per day, but in October this figure rose to an average of 5,000 tourists.
Phuket
The number of hotel bookings has also increased, but again this was facilitated by the Thais themselves, with hotel occupancy sometimes reaching 50-60%. According to the President of the Phuket Tourism Council, the number of travelers arriving at the airport has doubled since its opening two weeks ago. Tourists from Germany, Great Britain and Scandinavia and Thais go to the popular resort.
It is noteworthy that the share of domestic tourists accounts for most of the daily tourist flow, with more than 30 domestic flights landing on the island every day. According to experts, the number of these people averages between 4,000 and 5,000 people a day, plus an estimated 10,000 more tourists arrive daily by land.
Thai vacationers moved to Phuket as part of a state program to promote tourism. Authorities have provided subsidies to citizens of the kingdom, such as “Travel through Thailand” – acts on travel packages and “Travel together” – is valid for hotel accommodation. The trend of the dominant number of Thais over the foreign tourist flow is expected to continue from January to April next year.
Pattaya
And although there has been a recent influx of vacationers in Pattaya, popular with foreigners, the head of the resort’s Business and Tourism Association said there are tourists, but they are not foreigners. Up to 80% of the tourism business is accounted for by local tourists from Thailand, and most foreigners who come with the new Test & amp; Go, launched on November 1, is expats who already have a Thai family, not foreign tourists who used to be regular guests in Pattaya.
Test & amp; Go allows tourists from the approved list of 63 countries to enter Thailand without quarantine, while tourists must still undergo a PCR test upon arrival and remain in isolation for at least 6-8 hours in an approved hotel until the test results. If they are negative, travelers will be able to travel freely throughout Thailand. As the chairman of the Tourism Association noted, it is still too inconvenient for many tourists who are not interested in jumping over hoops to get to Thailand.