The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) continues to hope Chinese tourists will return by year-end.
TAT Gov. Yuthasak Supasorn said Aug. 10 said Beijing is letting provincial governors decide whether to reopen fully after the coronavirus pandemic. The same goes for provinces along land borders.
The agency is now talking to local governments to cajole them into allowing overseas group tours again, the golden goose for Thai tourism in 2019 when one of every three of Thailand’s 40 million tourists were Chinese.
This year, the TAT optimistically predicts 10 million foreigners will visit Thailand, but very few of them Chinese.
But Yuthasak claimed that when the hordes of Chinese do return, they will arrive in a changed Thailand. The TAT’s 2023-2027 strategy plan calls for putting sustainable tourism ahead of mass tourism.
The agency also is harnessing technology to woo Chinese back by working with Chinese telecom giant Huawei to make “video ringtones” that will show Thai tourist sites on smartphone screens whenever the phone rings.
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