THAILAND MULLS VISA-FREE ENTRY FOR CHINA

Photo: TravelMole

Thailand plans to offer visa-free entry for Chinese travellers to help speed up tourism recovery amid a huge decline in arrivals due to the covid-19 outbreak.

Minister of Tourism and Sports Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn said the number of arrivals from China plunged nearly 90% in the first week of February.

He said that trend will likely continue for the rest of February at least.

Thai tourism officials plan to push for the visa-free facility by the end of April if the outbreak is contained by then.

The Bank of Thailand says the coronavirus outbreak could lead to a decline in economic growth of about 2%.

However, visa-free status for the China market could significantly boost arrival numbers.

The tourism ministry believes it could get up to 1.5 million Chinese visitors a month by the summer if the outbreak is contained and there is a speedy recovery.

Read the full article at TravelMole: https://www.travelmole.com/news_feature.php?c=setreg&region=4&m_id=Y!nn_rs~Y!b&w_id=37215&news_id=2041469

#inbound market #visafreeentry #Thailand #TourismMekong #MTCO

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