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Thailand’s Tourist Numbers are up But Remain Way Below Pre-Pandemic Levels
(CTN News) – As coronavirus restrictions were relaxed, Thailand reports that visitor numbers increased last year, although they still lagged well below pre-pandemic levels.
11.81 million people visited the South East Asia vacation spot in 2022, an increase from only 400,000 the year before.
The Thailand Tourism Authority also predicted the number would quadruple to 25 million this year.
Nevertheless, these numbers are still far behind the 39.8 million visitors Thailand welcomed in 2019.
Beginning in June, the nation will begin taxing each foreign tourist 300 baht ($9.20; £7.40).
Thailand now aims to attract 80 million tourists annually by 2027.
In 2019, tourism-related earnings contributed more than 10% to the nation’s GDP. It was merely 1% in 2021. GDP, which tracks all economic activity, is a crucial indicator of how well or poorly an economy is doing.
The Thai government expects to see tourist expenditures surpass $150 billion by exceeding the number of visitors who came before the outbreak by more than double that amount.
The country’s tourist earnings might reach 5 trillion baht in 2027 if this goal is met, according to a Facebook post from the government’s Public Relations Department.
Additionally, according to the release, Thailand intends to raise “tourist safety requirements to meet the inflow of visitors.”
This month, the government stated its intention to require confirmation of Covid-19 immunization from travelers entering Thailand, but it swiftly revoked the announcement.
Thailand is anticipated to see a rise in tourist traffic from China, which has loosened the stringent border restrictions it imposed during the epidemic.
China’s immigration office said in December that passport applications for nationals who want to go abroad would start again on January 8.
Travel websites reported an increase in traffic after the decision, which ended almost three years of rigorous quarantine regulations for arrivals.
With approximately 11 million visits in 2019, China was Thailand’s top tourism supplier before the outbreak. At least five million Chinese visitors are anticipated in this nation this year.
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