Chinese arrivals to Thailand below expectation | World

Bangkok (VNA) –
The number of Chinese visitors to Thailand might not reach the target of 5
million this year, as arrivals in the first four months were lower than expected.

Sisdivachr
Cheewarattanaporn, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta), said
the tourism industry needs to wait for the second half of the year to gain a
clearer outlook after Chinese arrivals were sluggish over the first four months. As of April 18, the number of
Chinese visitors tallied around 695,000, only 14% of the target

The start of the year was promising, mainly driven by pent-up
demand from the Chinese market during the Lunar New Year festival in January,
which this year took place just two weeks after Beijing announced the lifting
of travel restrictions on Jan 7.

The number of Chinese
arrivals in the first two months tallied 247,497 before gradually picking up to
269,745 in March, as more flights were added.

However,  Sisdivachr
said apart from insufficient seat capacity and rising travel costs, tourists
who want to come to Thailand also face obstacles with visa applications.

He said Atta received a number of reports from tourists about
the inconvenient visa process, which prompted most of them to opt for visas on
arrival instead, while some tourists changed their plans and decided not to
visit the country.

He acknowledged that with
visa obstacles and gradual flight resumption, it might be difficult to achieve
5 million Chinese visitors this year unless there is a dramatic surge in the
second half.

Thailand recorded almost 6.5 million foreign arrivals in the
first quarter this year, still a wide margin from the 10.7 million posted in
the same period of 2019.

Yuthasak Supasorn, governor of the Tourism Authority of
Thailand, said the agency discussed the visa complaints with the private
sector, but the sides did not reach a resolution.