The cabinet on Tuesday okayed to waive the visa-on arrival cost for visitors from 21 nations for 2 months to offer the tourist market a much-needed increase.
Federal government representative Buddhipongse Punnakanta stated the cabinet concurred with a draft ministerial guideline to waive the 2,000-baht cost from Dec 1 to Jan 31 for visitors remaining in the nation for no greater than 15 days.
The 21 nations are Andora, Bulgaria, Bhutan, China, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan, stated the federal government representative.
According to the Migration Bureau, the variety of travelers looking for visas on arrival from January 2016 to today has actually kept falling, triggering the federal government to come up with the procedure, stated Mr Buddhipongse.
The waiver of the visa-on-arrival charges will promote the tourist sector, drawing more foreign visitors to the nation and creating more earnings. The variety of travelers will be increased by a minimum of 30%.
Previously, Pol Maj Gen Surachate Hakparn, acting chief of the Migration Bureau, stated the proposed waiver would be brought for cabinet approval on Tuesday.
He dismissed the issue that the waiver would lead to earnings losses, stating the procedure would promote tourist and produce big earnings for the nation. This would lead to the sustainable tourist development, he included.
The Joint Standing Committee on Commerce, Market and Banking previously pointed to the fall in the variety of Chinese tourist arrivals, associating it to a loss of self-confidence and to the weakening of the Chinese currency and Chinese individuals’s acquiring power as an outcome of the trade war.
In September about 648,000 Chinese checked out Thailand, down 14.89% year-on-year and 11.77% from August.
Nevertheless, in the very first 9 months of this year, there were 28.54 million foreign visitors, up 8.7% year-on-year. The variety of Chinese arrivals grew 13.3% year-on-year in the very same duration however dropped 8.8% year-on-year in the 3rd quarter. The committee recommended the visa cost waiver would assist.
Chinese travelers in Pattaya. (Picture by Chaiyot Pupattanapong)
In Pattaya, the town of the resort city on Tuesday held a conference with organization operators and agents from worried firms to go over steps to promote tourist following a sharp drop in the variety of travelers, especially the Chinese.
Ampai Sakdanukuljit Sliwinski, acting chief of the Chon Buri tourist and sports workplace, stated the variety of arrivals to this eastern province in 2015 stood at 17 million, creating an earnings of 240 billion baht and ranking Chon Buri 3rd in regards to tourist earnings.
Of all travelers to Chon Buri in 2015, 2.5 million were Chinese, followed by Russians and South Koreans, stated Ms Ampai.
Nevertheless, the variety of traveler arrivals, especially from China, dropped this year. She associated the decrease to security issues, especially in water activities.
In 2016, water activities declared the lives of 14 Chinese travelers. In 2015, there were 3 Chinese deaths. This year, the variety of Chinese deaths increased to 9, she stated.
She recommended that steps must be urgently prepared to decrease the deaths to no in a quote to bring back self-confidence.
Poramet Ngampichit, deputy mayor of Pattaya town who chaired the conference, stated the town has actually put in location steps to enhance security in water activities and land transport.
Projects about precaution should be stepped up to restore travelers, he stated.
The Pattaya town holds a conference with agents from the personal and sectors to go over steps to enhance travelers in this beach town. (Picture by Chaiyot Pupattanapong)
