Attracting international visitors from Thailand

Thai media reported that on the afternoon of August 28, the new Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, as soon as he took office, spent time meeting with leaders of Thailand's leading airlines, including ThaiAirway, Thai Vietjet , Thai Airasia... to discuss tourism development.

Aviation tourism prioritized in development goals by new Thai government

This meeting shows that Mr. Srettha Thavisin and the new Government pay attention to the role of aviation in tourism development. This is understandable, transportation is an important condition for tourism development, in which aviation is the safest and most convenient means of passenger transport. Thailand has been exploiting this advantage to the fullest for tourism.

In the first 6 months of the year, Thailand attracted more than 12 million international visitors, an increase of more than 5 times compared to the same period last year. The goal of the Golden Temple country is to attract 25 million international visitors this year. Meanwhile, Vietnam's goal is 8 million international visitors, a modest number compared to its neighbor.

In terms of heritage and landscape criteria, Vietnam is not inferior to Thailand. We have many world cultural heritages and world natural heritages, becoming attractive destinations on the world's tourist map such as Ha Long Bay, Son Doong Cave...

However, one of the important factors that make international tourists come to a famous place is convenient transportation. In this era of people saving more and more time, airplanes are the top priority choice.

Mr. Srettha Thavisin shared the tourism development orientation, including a plan to exempt visas for 6 months for the leading tourist markets of China and India from October 2023. For these two "billion-people" markets, visa exemption will create a huge breakthrough, and the target of attracting international visitors in 2023 can exceed 30 million visitors. Because, before the pandemic, Chinese tourists accounted for 20% of the total number of international visitors to Thailand.

Thailand pays great attention to the role of aviation in tourism development.

Vietnam has just had new tourism policies to attract international visitors, specifically foreigners can apply for e-visas online, extending the e-visa issuance period to a maximum of 90 days. For citizens of countries with unilateral visa exemption, the visa exemption period for entry into Vietnam will be extended to 45 days, 3 times longer than the previous period.

The above policies have a positive impact on tourism business activities, which will certainly grow more than last year, especially international tourists. However, in addition to visas and length of stay, there needs to be support policies so that airlines can exploit their strengths and contribute to the development of the national tourism economy.

Domestic airlines must be proactive, research and open domestic and international routes, creating the most favorable travel conditions for tourists. From a management perspective, support is needed to carry out the procedures for opening routes as quickly as possible. Developing air tourism requires not only aircraft, but also aviation infrastructure. Along with convenient and safe flights, there must also be modern airports that meet the requirements of airlines, serving passengers with high quality and civilization.

Thanhnien.vn