Phuket beach restaurant sign in Russian To revive tourism in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Thailand is now targeting Russia as a strong source market after much touts in India and Saudi Arabia. These expectations are based on the announcement by Russian state-run airline Aeroflot that it will resume daily direct flights to the southern Thai resort of Phuket. The flights are expected to resume in the winter after being halted earlier this year due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict. Overall, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects…
To revive tourism in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, Thailand is now targeting Russia as a strong source market after much touts in India and Saudi Arabia.
These expectations are based on the announcement by Russian state-run airline Aeroflot that it will resume daily direct flights to the southern Thai resort of Phuket. The flights are expected to resume in the winter after being halted earlier this year due to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Overall, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) expects 1 million Russian tourists, but did not give a timetable. Phuket and Pattaya were once among the most popular Russian destinations in Thailand.
However, some observers are skeptical that the Phuket flight will lead to an influx of Russian tourists, as lack of connectivity remains an issue.
The number of Russian tourists to Thailand stood at 76,739 as of July 26, most of them in the first quarter before the conflict in Ukraine, according to Thai government data.
Russia-Ukraine conflict casts shadow over
Flights from Russia have been severely affected after the European Union imposed various sanctions on Russia, including grounding and repairing planes, and it is unclear whether other Russian airlines will follow the national carrier to fly to Thailand again. With the exception of Aeroflot, several other Russian airlines have suspended flights to Phuket since March this year.
A TAT official said “many airlines” from Thailand, such as Thai Airways and Thai AirAsia X, were interested in operating the route to replace Aeroflot, but were unable to do so due to EU sanctions.
Critics express anger
On social media, critics have expressed anger at Thailand’s obsession with Russian tourists amid the severe armed conflict in Europe, noting that it could lead to tensions between Russian holidaymakers and other tourists opposed to the conflict.
The total number of international tourists to Thailand between January 1 and July 26 this year was about 3.12 million, the Tourism Ministry said in a separate report on Aug. 2. While that’s a lot more than the first six months, it’s clearly a far cry from the brilliance of the first 19 days of the Covid-19 pandemic, with nearly 40 million arrivals for all of 2019.
