Following Beijing’s statement this week that it will remove travel restrictions on January 8, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is in negotiations with its offices in China to revamp its plan to attract Chinese tourists.
The discussions began after China’s National Health Commission stated on Monday that it will enable Chinese people to apply for passports for travel from January 8, after nearly three years of rigorous pandemic border controls prohibited visitors from leaving the country.
Before the 2020 epidemic, China was Thailand’s biggest travel market.
Chuwit Sirivejkul, TAT’s East Asia executive director, said the Chinese government’s announcement that its residents may apply for passports for travel from January 8 was already increasing interest in travel to Thailand.
China’s airlines requested more overseas flights after online travel package searches increased.
Chuwit said the TAT was revising its plan to bring Chinese tourists to Thailand with its five offices in China—Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Kunming, and Chengdu.
Chuwit noted that Chinese travel firms have introduced trip packages to Thailand for Chinese New Year.
TAT governor Yuthasak Supasorn said the agency would explore attracting Chinese tourists with hotel, airline, and airport businesses.
Following Beijing’s statement, Thailand’s Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn increased next year’s international tourist target from 20 million to 25 million. The minister said this will assist attain the 2.38 trillion baht tourism revenue target for 2023.
This won’t bring much joy to the many eateries in Pattaya as the Chinese are mostly herded on bus tours straight past them to dedicated restaurants of the tour guide’s choice.
