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Bangkok welcomes first tourists for quarantine-free holiday -Breaking

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© Reuters. The first group of tourists arrives at Suvarnabhumi Airport on the first day in the country’s opening campaign. This is part of the government’s plans to boost the tourism sector that was hit by the pandemic, which began November 1, 2021, in Bangkok. REUTERS/Soezeya Tu

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By Jiraporn Kuhakan

BANGKOK (Reuters – Hundreds upon hundreds of vaccinated travelers from overseas are expected to arrive in Bangkok Monday. They will be the first group of tourists to Thailand for 18 months and won’t have to go through quarantine.

Thailand has granted permission to vaccine tourists from over 60 countries to help it recover its tourism industry that was devastated by the pandemic.

Officials hope that the officials will be able to capitalize on tourists from the north hemisphere fleeing the winter blues.

Thailand is a popular destination for tourists in Asia-Pacific. However, the country has enforced pandemic entry restrictions for 18 months. This was criticized by travel professionals as too strict and burdensome.

Prior to the pandemic tourism made up about 12% Thailand’s GDP. It was also the most popular city in the country. Thailand lost about 3,000,000 jobs in tourism, and the country has an annual income of $50 billion.

Thai officials have tested the waters after the opening of Phuket’s resort island in July. Fully-vaccinated visitors were permitted to bypass the mandatory two-week quarantine if they stayed on Phuket. Tourism accounts for 90% of Thailand’s economy.

The “Phuket Sandbox”, however, was not as popular as officials had expected. July arrivals were just 1% below pre-pandemic levels.

Before they can travel to the rest of the country, new arrivals will need to spend their first night in an approved hotel.

In an effort to attract more visitors to the country, airlines have been quick to bring back jets from hibernation. The return of foreign visitors will still be slow. According to the finance ministry, there will be just 180,000 and 7,000,000 foreigners this year, as opposed to 40 million for 2019.

Since April, the majority of Thailand’s nearly 1.9 million coronavirus-related deaths and the bulk of Thailand’s infections have been reported. Nearly 42% of 72 million people have been vaccinated.

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