Thai travel agents urge govt to extend visa on arrival arrangements

By THE NATION

 

 

Wichit Prakobkosol, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta), is predicting that 2020 will be a challenging year for the tourism industry and urged the government to implement measures to stimulate the foreign tourism market as soon as possible.

 

“The most important measure is the Visa on Arrival (VoA) that allows foreign tourists from 19 countries to enter Thailand without having to get a visa beforehand,” he said. “This measure will expire on April 30, and we want the government to extend it to the end of 2020 to keep the flow of foreign tourists going.”

 

Wichit added that Atta has also pitched the idea of granting multiple entry visas to Chinese tourists to Ministry of Tourism and Sports. “The Ministry agreed with this idea and is discussing it with Ministry of Foreign Affairs and related agencies,” he said.

 

“Once implemented, we can attract high-end tourists from China to come to Thailand several times a year. These tourists have strong purchasing power and can boost the travel industry as well as generate considerable revenue for local entrepreneurs.”

 

Popular destinations in Thailand include Bangkok, Samui and Krabi, but next year they will have to compete with Japan and Dubai, which will host world events like the Olympics and the World Expo, added Wichit.

 

“If the government agrees with the VoA extension and multiple entry visa ideas, they should announce the measures as soon as possible, ideally within January to enable tour entrepreneurs, hotels and airlines to plan their marketing strategy accordingly,” said Wichit.

 

“If the announcement are delayed, our travel partners like Chinese tour operators may direct their clients to other destinations that provide better ease of access.”

 

Atta estimated that in 2020 numbers of foreign tourists visiting Thailand will increase by 2 million or 5 per cent from this year. “Chinese tourists are still our biggest clients, with an estimated number in 2020 of up to 11 million,” said Wichit.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30379777

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2019-12-24

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14 minutes ago, webfact said:

urged the government to implement measures to stimulate the foreign tourism market as soon as possible.

That ship has sailed.

“Once implemented, we can attract high-end tourists from China". In your wildest dreams, buddy!

Desperately grabbing for any straw they can. Meanwhile, the glut of new hotels they threw up everywhere are sitting at 40% occupancy, with reservations dropping. 

 

But no worries, the hoards of Chinese, and the big spending Indians will save them. lol

if tourists numbers are not up, they can always just RAISE the price of EVERYTHING

6 hours ago, webfact said:

“Once implemented, we can attract high-end tourists from China to come to Thailand several times a year. These tourists have strong purchasing power and can boost the travel industry as well as generate considerable revenue for local entrepreneurs.”

The high end big spending Chinese are looking further than Thailand, all they can purchase here is Chinese grade 3 copies!

High end travellers, from anywhere and not just China, want high end services, high end infrastructure, high end attractions to visit. Thailand all too often does not provide this. TAT and other members of government would not know what competition they are up against because they have been brainwashed from birth to believe that everything in Thailand is perfect and therefore irresistible to foreigners. It is not, especially to people who have real money to spend and know where to spend it. And that doesn't include a country with attitude. Thailand is a low end attraction and has been for decades. When the country was cheap it attracted the cheap tourists. Now that is no longer cheap they have gone, and they won't be replaced by high spenders because Thailand doesn't tick their boxes.

 

It will be next to impossible to change that, because Thais are always, always in denial and will endlessly defend every single thing about Thailand even when it is indefensible. A poster on TV is a prime example. When something is indefensible even for them, they clam up, blank you, pretend the problem isn't there.

No no the money is with the first timers so stick with that plan !

Put the prices for a visa up so you get more tourists.

seems like many of the Chinese have moved on to Vietnam anyway. I see Vietnam overtaking Thailand in many ways in the next several years.

 

 

7 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

Desperately grabbing for any straw they can. Meanwhile, the glut of new hotels they threw up everywhere are sitting at 40% occupancy, with reservations dropping. 

 

But no worries, the hoards of Chinese, and the big spending Indians will save them. lol

"and the big spending Indians will save them. lol". Yes, and the hotels will have to stock up on their packets of straws.

5 hours ago, hotchilli said:

The high end big spending Chinese are looking further than Thailand, all they can purchase here is Chinese grade 3 copies!

They are going to Vietnam 

22 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

Desperately grabbing for any straw they can. Meanwhile, the glut of new hotels they threw up everywhere are sitting at 40% occupancy, with reservations dropping. 

 

But no worries, the hoards of Chinese, and the big spending Indians will save them. lol

They made the same mistake as Costa del Sol, ruined everything with greed now only the plebs go there but not in great numbers, it's Blackpool in the sun, who flys 10,000km for that.

Why are they worried? 39 million and counting, brush your teeth and keep that Thai smile alive.

There I was thinking if they dropped the baht, that might help, slightly.....more bang for your buck ?

16 hours ago, Bangkok Barry said:

High end travellers, from anywhere and not just China, want high end services, high end infrastructure, high end attractions to visit. Thailand all too often does not provide this. TAT and other members of government would not know what competition they are up against because they have been brainwashed from birth to believe that everything in Thailand is perfect and therefore irresistible to foreigners. It is not, especially to people who have real money to spend and know where to spend it. And that doesn't include a country with attitude. Thailand is a low end attraction and has been for decades. When the country was cheap it attracted the cheap tourists. Now that is no longer cheap they have gone, and they won't be replaced by high spenders because Thailand doesn't tick their boxes.

 

It will be next to impossible to change that, because Thais are always, always in denial and will endlessly defend every single thing about Thailand even when it is indefensible. A poster on TV is a prime example. When something is indefensible even for them, they clam up, blank you, pretend the problem isn't there.

Absolutely summed it up, but they will always have a come back, "mai pen rai, up to you" as opposed to addressing the real issues at hand, always using the left hand, no idea what the right one is for, I have the left hand, so know need to use the right hand.

Every body knows they come to Thailand for the pristine bitches, sorry beaches.

If you fly in on a UK passport do you need a visa or is it visa free? Or must you get a VoA? I saw about 500 Chinese waiting outside the VoA office at Suvarnabhumi last time I went through....god only knows how long it took to get processed, what with being the internet and technology hub and all....

20 hours ago, Nakmuay887 said:

seems like many of the Chinese have moved on to Vietnam anyway. I see Vietnam overtaking Thailand in many ways in the next several years.

 

 

Vietnam - tourists from China this year. 2.7m, down 3.3% on 2018.

 

Thailand - tourists from China this year. 9.1m. down 1.7% on 2018.

 

They have a way to go. Surging Asian markets for Chinese tourism are Myanmar (up 140%), Singapore, and Malaysia. Why TVF readers have this fascination with Vietnam, I'll never know. I can only assume none of them have ever been there, with the exception of BritMan who has found a niche there.