Thailand to roll out tourism stimulus package to woo tourists
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said new measures will be announced next month to woo tourists back to the country, especially those from China, in the lead up to the New Year.
Hanoi (VNA) - Thai DeputyPrime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak said new measures will be announced nextmonth to woo tourists back to the country, especially those from China, in thelead up to the New Year.
The Deputy PM added measures in thepackage will include a tax measure for jewellery purchases, a tourism packagewith free flights to second-tier tourist provinces and a waiver forvisa-on-arrival.
The planned exemption will include the2,000-baht visa-on-arrival fee, along with double-entry visas.
The cabinet will approve a stimuluspackage in the second half of November. It will be effective until the end ofDecember, said Somkid.
The measures will involve the TourismAuthority of Thailand, the Finance Ministry and Thai Airways International.
During the first nine months of the year,Thailand received 28.5 million international tourists, representing 8.7 percentyear-on-year growth.
However, travellers from China slid 12 percent in August, thebiggest drop in more than a year, keeping the overall pace of visitor growthnear a 16-month low after a tour boat capsized off Phuket in July which killed47 Chinese tourists.
The Tourism Council of Thailand haspredicted Chinese arrivals would plunge around a quarter to 1.9 million inOctober through December from a year earlier.
It said there used to be seven to 12charter flights per day from Chinato Krabi, but now it is down to three flights per day with some having two tothree people on board.-VNA
The Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports reported that the tourist arrivals to the country in the first two months of this year jumped to over 7 million.
The tourist boat “Phoenix” which capsized off Thailand’s resort island of Phuket four days ago was carrying a total of 89 passengers, instead of 93 as stated in previous news, according to Thai authorities.
Thai Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, on July 9, blamed Chinese tour operators for the death of more than 40 people in a boat accident off a resort island last weekend.
Despite various measures to improve its image, Thailand has struggled to end its slump in the number of Chinese visitors, which is a great risk to an economy that is largely dependent on tourism.
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A temple in Bangkok (Source: Xinhua) 
