Attracting international tourists: A look at Thailand.

According to Thai media, on the afternoon of August 28th, the new Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, immediately after taking office, took time to meet with leaders of leading Thai airlines, including ThaiAirway, Thai Vietjet , and Thai Airasia, to discuss tourism development.

Aviation tourism is a priority in the development goals of the new Thai government.

This meeting shows that Mr. Srettha Thavisin and the new government are focusing on the role of aviation in tourism development. This is understandable, as transportation is a crucial condition for tourism development, and air travel is the safest and most convenient means of passenger transport. Thailand has been maximizing this advantage for tourism.

In the first six months of the year, Thailand attracted over 12 million international tourists, more than five times the number in the same period last year. The country's goal is to attract 25 million international tourists this year. Meanwhile, Vietnam's target is 8 million international tourists, a modest figure compared to its neighbor.

In terms of heritage and scenic attractions, Vietnam is in no way inferior to Thailand. We have many World Cultural Heritage sites and World Natural Heritage sites, making us attractive destinations on the global tourism map, such as Ha Long Bay and Son Doong Cave.

However, one of the key factors attracting international tourists to a famous destination is convenient transportation. In today's time-saving era, air travel is the preferred option.

Mr. Srettha Thavisin shared the tourism development plan, which includes a six-month visa exemption for leading tourist markets such as China and India starting in October 2023. For these two "billion-person" markets, visa exemption will create a huge breakthrough, and the target of attracting international tourists in 2023 could exceed 30 million. This is because, before the pandemic, Chinese tourists accounted for up to 20% of the total international visitors to Thailand.

Thailand places great emphasis on the role of aviation in the development of tourism.

Vietnam has recently implemented new tourism policies to attract international visitors. Specifically, foreigners can now apply for e-visas online, and the validity period of e-visas has been extended to a maximum of 90 days. For citizens of countries with unilateral visa exemptions, the visa-free entry period into Vietnam has been extended to 45 days, three times longer than before.

These policies have a positive impact on the tourism business, which will certainly grow more than last year, especially in terms of international tourists. However, besides visas and length of stay, supportive policies are needed to enable airlines to capitalize on their strengths and contribute to the national tourism economy.

Domestic airlines must be proactive, researching and opening new domestic and international routes to facilitate travel for tourists. From a management perspective, support is needed to expedite the procedures for opening new routes. Developing air travel 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 civility.

Thanhnien.vn