Thailand will fully reopen the country on July 1, scrapping all Covid-19 entry rules that have been in place for months and considered onerous and bureaucratic by many travelers, reducing foreign holidaymakers’ willingness to visit the country. No trouble, forecasts look better now, a rare positive for the country’s pandemic-battered economy, currency and labor market. However, most analysts believe that Thailand will still struggle to reach pre-pandemic levels of nearly 40 million passengers in 2019. Tourism contributed 20% to Thailand’s GDP before the pandemic Before the pandemic, the overall industry related to tourism…
Thailand will fully reopen the country on July 1, scrapping all Covid-19 entry rules that have been in place for months and considered onerous and bureaucratic by many travelers, reducing foreign holidaymakers’ willingness to visit the country.
No trouble, forecasts look better now, a rare positive for the country’s pandemic-battered economy, currency and labor market.
However, most analysts believe that Thailand will still struggle to reach pre-pandemic levels of nearly 40 million passengers in 2019.
Tourism contributed 20% to Thailand’s GDP before pandemic
Before the pandemic, tourism-related industries as a whole accounted for about one-fifth of Thailand’s economy and employment. Chinese tourists make up nearly 30 percent of the total, according to official figures.
Arrivals are expected to reach 24 million by 2024, about 60 percent of the last figure before the pandemic, the World Bank said in a report released on June 29.
Government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana cited the latest forecast from the Tourism Ministry as saying that the number of international tourists to Thailand could reach 9.3 million this year. This is higher than the Bank of Thailand’s earlier estimate of 6 million and the National Economic and Social Development Council’s forecast of 7 million.
Expected to further develop momentum
While the current travel boom is likely to develop further, Thailand still faces headwinds, including soaring oil prices and accelerating inflation, chaos at international airports and high airfares, and China’s restrictions on international travel for its residents.
However, recent moves by China to reduce the quarantine period for incoming travelers have fueled optimism about the return of tourists from Thailand’s largest tourism market before the Covid-19 pandemic.
