Thailand Might Relax Visa Rules to Extend tourists’ Stay ahead of Winter Festival

(CTN News) – Thailand, whose economy is heavily dependent on tourism, is getting ready for the holiday season by organizing a plethora of cultural and athletic events and is even contemplating easing visa requirements to attract more visitors.

Loi Krathong, the Bangkok Marathon, and the New Year are all part of the Winter Festival, according to Srettha, who announced it last week. The purpose of the event is to promote Thailand’s distinctive culture and draw in tourists during the peak season, which is from November to January.

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To elaborate, an advisor to Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, Prommin Lertsuridej, was quoted by Bloomberg from an interview earlier this week in which he indicated that Thailand is considering a plan to allow visitors of certain European nationalities to stay for up to 90 days.

An official advising the prime minister, Prommin, stated, “We will design more attractions and promotions to incentivize tourists to stay longer.”

The nighttime environment is more exciting, they stay longer, and there are more events to attend. This is our strategy for encouraging visitors to spend more money.

“From now until next year, organizers plan to host over three thousand events, including marathons, concerts, and other cultural celebrations, to entice visitors.”

In her first order of business as prime minister, Srettha sought to increase foreign visitors to her nation.

Travelers from Russia, China, Kazakhstan, India, and Taiwan were temporarily granted a waiver on visa requirements. Additionally, airlines were instructed to increase the number of routes they offer and streamline airport procedures in order to reduce waiting time for visitors.

Additionally, beginning next month, it will most likely announce later night hours for certain districts of Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai, and Chonburi’s nightlife entertainment facilities.

An all-time high of nearly 40 million international visitors brought in 1.91 trillion baht for the nation in 2019. According to government statistics, that year, the average tourist spent 47,895 baht for a nine-day trip.

Tourism Revival Strategy: Thailand Aims to Surpass Pre-COVID Revenue by 2024

There have been 23.2 million international visitors to Thailand this year, bringing in a total of 981.7 billion baht as of November 12th. According to Bloomberg, this indicates that it is now around 12% lower than the baseline for per-trip spending in 2019.

With an objective of 2 trillion baht ($57 billion) in 2024, the Tourism Authority of Thailand aims to increase revenue from international tourists to levels seen before the COVID-19 pandemic.