Thailand ‘extremely pleased’ to see Chinese tour groups’ return: ‘we look forward to many more’
- China on Monday lifted a Covid-era ban on overseas group tours, with Thailand among the 20 destinations that have been approved
- Thailand’s tourism chief said the country was happy to receive tour groups again, as it aims to draw at least 5 million Chinese visitors this year
Senior Thai government officials and Chinese diplomats lined up at a Bangkok airport on Monday morning to receive the first two groups of about 20 tourists each from Guangzhou. The visitors have a six-day itinerary that will span Bangkok and beyond and take them to popular tourist destinations from temples to beaches.
The travellers are among the first to leave China in groups after it included Thailand among 20 destinations for such outbound tours from Monday.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has ordered Thai government agencies to roll out attractive tour packages and marketing deals to draw at least 5 million Chinese visitors this year, according to government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri.
“We are extremely pleased to receive these first groups and look forward to many more to come,” said Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand.
Thailand has welcomed nearly 100,000 Chinese tourists this year through February 2, according to the state tourism agency. That comes despite a Covid insurance mandate imposed by the country for visitors from China and India, which require negative RT-PCR test results on return.
Chinese were the largest group of visitors to Thailand before the pandemic, accounting for about 28 per cent of the record 40 million foreign arrivals in 2019.