TAT expects sandbox schemes to give tourism a big boost
The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is confident that the number of foreign tourists visiting Thailand in the fourth quarter of the year will increase significantly, thanks to the tourism sandbox campaigns that aim to reopen certain areas of Thailand to vaccinated tourists.
“The pilot tourism sandbox programme in Phuket that started on July 1 has been a great success. From July 1-14 the province has welcomed 5,742 tourists, nearly reaching the same level as in May, which had 6,512 tourists,” TAT Governor Yuthasak Supasorn said on Thursday.
“Meanwhile, we tested all visitors and found that only 10 were infected, which is lower than expected and is easily manageable.”
Yuthasak added that on Thursday, Koh Samui in Surat Thani also opened under the sandbox programme, followed by Koh Phi Phi and Railay Beach in Krabi as well as Khao Lak and Koh Yao in Phang Nga.
“In September the sandbox scheme will expand to other tourist cities, including Pattaya, Chiang Mai and Buri Ram, which will host the MotoGP tournament,” he added.
“The TAT has set the target that this year we will have domestic tourists at 90 million and will increase to 100 million in 2022, while in the fourth quarter of this year there will be at least 3 million foreign tourists visiting Thailand, generating income of THB850 billion,” said Yuthasak.
“Tourism revenue for 2022 is estimated at THB2.5 trillion, but could vary depending on the Covid-19 situation. The TAT hopes to achieve this target by promoting Thailand to be at the top of the minds of foreign tourists and working with local partners to bring back foreign visitors.”
