China Travel
It's been almost three weeks since China officially reopened its borders after almost three long years and Thailand's tourism industry has welcomed the move after suffering an unprecedented setback due to a lack of Chinese tourists.
For the past three weeks, it has been the closest resemblance the Southeast Asian country has had to normal, to pre-pandemic times.
Meanwhile, good news kept coming with the announcement of the resumption of group tours from China from February 6.
It is expected that Chinese tourists will return faster with greater intensity than earlier anticipated.
There's been estimation by the Thai Chamber of Commerce in China that the number of Chinese travelers arriving in Thailand could potentially reach 10 million this year. To put that in perspective, that is double the estimation by Thailand's tourism body before the resumption of group tours was announced and it is almost on-par with number of Chinese tourist arrivals pre-pandemic in 2019.
So, of course, virtually everyone in the tourism industry is now optimistic that once group tours resume, the financial struggles that many experienced during the pandemic will finally improve.
"Tourists are gradually coming back, but of course when China opened up, it was bound to get better because they have a large population. Once they start to really travel again, our economy will be much better," said Monchai Kittirattanasakun, a souvenir stall owner.
On Jan. 9, the second day after China's optimized COVID-19 strategy took effect, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and other senior officials welcomed the first group of Chinese tourists at the Suvarnabhumi Airport with flowers and gifts. The Thai government is expecting 300,000 Chinese tourist arrivals in the first quarter of 2023. Thailand's tourism sector will exhibit a faster recovery following the return of Chinese tourists, said Piti Disyatat, secretary of the Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of Thailand, the country's central bank.