Thailand’s outbound tourism is expected to gradually take shape from January next year, however, most of them are long-haul destinations especially to European countries like the UK, Switzerland, and Italy.
According to Suthiphong Pheunphiphop, President of the Thai Travel Agents Association (TTAA), Thais are tentatively opting to travel to countries in Europe over short-haul destinations like Asia.
He explained that those countries are on Thailand’s low-risk list for the Test & Go scheme and more importantly they will not have to enter mandatory quarantine when they return.
In regard to Asian countries which adopt a more cautious approach, Suthiphong said this could be one of the factors causing a slow pace in recovery in the Asia Pacific region.
However, the association is currently working with national tourism organizations and embassies to ease travel restrictions for tourists and accelerate the resumption of international travel.
The TTAA President said members of the association will start selling packages by the end of this month as they are expecting to see pent-up demand after two years of the lingering pandemic.
To kick off outbound tourism in January or February, Suthiphong said the TTAA plans to organize 6 familiarization trips to Europe and some Asian countries including Sri Lanka.
He also hopes that each country will announce a clearer travel policy so that the number of travelers increases and the tourism industry returns to the pre-pandemic level.
ntnn
