Thailand Wants to Resume Tourism by July 1

Tourism companies in Thailand cannot wait longer and urge the government to resume travel already this summer. Several leading tourism-related businesses in the country even launched a special campaign with an aim of reopening borders by 1 July 2021. More than 15 large companies such as Minor Group, YAANA Ventures, EXO, Asian Trails, and Capella Hotels signed a petition in the campaign that started three days ago.

Known as Open Thailand Safely, the petition was sent to the Royal Thai Government. As vaccination programs are active in the US, Europe, and many other important source markets, Thailand might be able to review its restriction policies. The pandemic has been a serious hit for the country’s tourism. Hotels in Bangkok, the most visited city in the world, were always full of guests. Thailand is also a popular beach holiday destination. Not only hotels in Pattaya and Koh Samui are suffering. Many local businesses are almost completely targeted at tourists, and now they are mostly out of work.

The petition is available not only for residents of Thailand. Everyone who wants the country to reopen its borders can sign it. Thai tourism companies also explained how they came up with the July 1 date. There are five reasons that make this date appropriate. First of all, many people in major source markets for Thailand will be already vaccinated by mid-summer. Thailand also has enough time to vaccinate hotel staff and other people who deal with tourists.

Foreign tourists, in their turn, have enough time to book flights and hotels for their summer vacation in Thailand. Air carriers, hotels, tour agencies, and other related companies also need time to resume their activities. Finally, it may take many months or even several years for Thailand to return to its pre-covid-19 results, and the sooner the country starts to recover the better.

If Thailand reopens its borders by July 1, it can overperform other popular Asian destinations. The petition underlines that tourism can speed up the economic growth of the country and suggests implementing potential requirements for international tourists, such as proof of vaccination, health insurance purchase, a negative COVID-19 test, and so on. In 2019, tourism in Thailand was an industry worth approximately US$96.5 billion. Almost 40 million tourists visited the country in 2019, providing over 8 million people with jobs. Between two and four million of these people already lost their jobs due to travel restrictions.