Package for senior visitors put on hold

The time frame for the scheme, which expires on April 30, will be extended until all the additional room nights are fully redeemed or until all the budget is used. PHIPHAT RATCHAKITPRAKARN Tourism and Sports Minister

The spike in coronavirus infections in Thailand has delayed the launch of a new tourism stimulus package targeting senior travellers until March, while the Tourism and Sports Ministry will discuss a plan to set up a tourism fund by this month.

“Under the current circumstances, tourism activities have to be temporarily halted to prevent further spread and calm local concerns when seeing tourists from other provinces, especially in red zone areas,” said Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn, the Tourism and Sports Minister.

Provinces such as Buri Ram, Chiang Mai, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Songkhla and Surat Thani announced that visitors from maximum control zones or provinces declared by the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) as red zones have to undergo a 14-day period of self-quarantine or local quarantine in order to curb the latest outbreak.

As a result, the travel stimulus package for 1 million senior travellers over 55 years of age via tour operators has to be postponed with immediate effect until March at the earliest.

There are also terms and conditions for this project that require more indepth discussion with the Finance Ministry, particularly on how to cross-check tour operators before paying the 5,000baht subsidy. The methods need to be well-managed in order to prevent fraud.

“Both officers from the Provincial Office of Tourism and Sports and the tourist police will be assigned to thoroughly check every trip to ensure tour programmes are actually being conducted,” he said.

Mr Phiphat said people who had abused the “We travel together” scheme still have around 60 days within which legal action will be taken against them as the statute of limitations filed with the police in December lasts for a period of 90 days.

“The time frame for the scheme, which expires on April 30, will be extended until all the additional room nights are fully redeemed or until all the budget is used,” Mr Phiphat said.

The ministry plans to propose the establishment of a tourism fund to the National Tourism Policy Committee chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Jan 20.

The fund will be aimed at reviving and sustaining the tourism industry amid the pandemic and preparing for any uncertainties in the future.

The funds will partially be derived from a travel insurance programme for foreign tourists who travel to the country in the future.

According to a study the ministry conducted prior to the pandemic, insurance charge would be around 200 baht per head per visit, but the exact price had not yet been decided, he said. The insurance would offer up to 1 million baht in the case of death and benefits in the case of accidents, but tourists would still have to purchase Covid-19 health insurance separately before entering Thailand.

On Jan 20 the ministry will discuss plans to spur tourism and sports once Covid-19 subsides to utilise the unused budget for January and February.