Visa exemptions for China, India to seek cabinet approval
The Tourism and Sports Ministry plans to seek the cabinet’s approval for a scheme to offer visa exemptions to visitors from China and India for one year.
If the idea is approved, it will become effective from the start of November through Oct 31, 2020, said Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the tourism and sports minister.
“Visa-free is the ministry’s most urgent stimulus policy, without which tourism arrival growth might not reach our target,” Mr Phiphat said.
The visa exemption will allow travel in Thailand for 15 days.
Tourism, a key economic engine, has weakened because of the slow global economy. The ministry reported that 19.76 million tourists visited Thailand in the first half, 1.5% growth from the same period of 2018.
China, Thailand’s biggest tourism source market, saw visitors decline by 4.7% year-on-year on the period to 5.65 million. Thailand welcomed 978,785 visitors from India, up 24.1% year-on-year.
Mr Phiphat said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha agrees with the scheme and believes that visa exemptions are more efficient in boosting tourism than extending the waiver of visa-on-arrival (VOA) fees for these two countries.
China and India are among 21 nations that benefited from the 2,000baht VOA fee waiver. Mr Phiphat said the ministry will also propose extending the waiver for the other 19 nations until Oct 31, 2020, one more year than previously scheduled.
He also said the VOA fees that Thailand has waived for 21 nations cost about 10 billion baht but the country has enjoyed overall tourism income of 20 billion baht since the policy was implemented last November.
The minister voiced confidence that the visa exemption would help boost travellers from India to reach 3 million next year.
Tourism operators have welcomed the move and hope the measure will stimulate the tourism sector to reach 3.38 trillion baht as targeted this year.
Vichit Prakobgosol, president of the Association of Thai Travel Agents (Atta), said the visa exemption will bolster inbound Indians and Chinese to Thailand and will be one of the significant boosts amid the tough economic situation.
India is a promising market with growth of more than 24% in the first half this year for some 978,785 visitors in the first six months.
The strongest push for the Indian market is political and economic stability after the result of the general election came out in May. India’s economic growth is expected to hit at least 7% this year.
Mr Vichit said the promising outlook will be on the upward trend for 5-10 years.
Atta forecasts the number of Indian travellers to reach 2 million for the first time this year, up from 1.6 million in 2018.
“The hassle-free entry will catalyse growth of the India market,” Mr Vichit said. “The biggest group of travellers is the middle-income segment, hence money that was saved from visa fees will also help them prioritise Thailand more.
“After the years that we put a lot of effort, penetrating new source markets in various parts of India where some places don’t have a Thai consulate or embassy, the convenience of visa exemption will help to improve this market significantly.”
Insufficient airline routes, due to the India-Thailand bilateral air services agreement, remain an obstacle. But Mr Vichit hopes the two countries will resolve the issue as soon as possible.
Supawan Tanomkieatipume, president of the Thai Hotels Association, said the visa exemption will help support travellers from the two most populous countries to visit Thailand without wasting time on the long visa application process.
But she suggested that the scheme be implemented permanently in the same way as for other countries like Japan, which also offers a visa exemption for Thai nationals.