Thailand looks to reboot tourism sector with “Phuket Sandbox” launch
Updated
Thailand has started the first stage of its plan to relaunch the country’s battered tourism sector with a rule change that allows vaccinated visitors to travel to its major island destination – a plan which has been dubbed the “Phuket Sandbox”.
Under rules published by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, jabbed tourists from a select number of countries, including the US and China, are now allowed to visit the holiday island. Provided they are virus-free for 14 days they will then be able to travel around the rest of Thailand.
Tourism is a vital part of the Thai economy – in 2019 it contributed nearly 22% to the country’s $543.5bn gross domestic product.
Strict rules
Strict entry rules imposed to combat COVID-19 have depleted tourist numbers. In 2019, just shy of 40 million people visited Thailand, or roughly 3.3 million every month. However, according to figures from the Thai Ministry of Tourism and Sports, April 2021 saw just 8,529 visitors in total, and less than 700 high-spending Chinese tourists.
Not only does Phuket’s island status make it an obvious choice for a managed reopening of Thailand’s tourism sector, with 95% of the local economy linked to tourism, there is also economic logic behind the government’s move.
Frederic Varner, managing director of Anantara Hotels Phuket – a high-end accommodation firm – told the Financial Times, that if Phuket did not reopen soon the industry would, “die of starvation”.
New routes
The battered global aviation sector also needs Thailand to reopen. Ailing national carrier Thai Airways has added routes to Phuket from five European cities in expectation of tourist demand, the FT reports, while Emirates and other Middle Eastern airlines have followed suit.
It is unclear whether the sandbox experiment will deliver meaningful numbers of tourists. Substantial restrictions will be imposed on visitors, including mandatory tracking apps on their phones and while they will be able to freely move around the island, bars and nightclubs will be closed.
The Tourist Authority of Thailand has already scaled back projected visitor numbers ahead of the launch.
Disappointing figures
The Bank of Thailand recently reduced its growth expectation for the southeast Asian country and on Thursday (1 July) also produced disappointing manufacturing numbers, as part of a broader dip in the region.
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