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BANGKOK: Thailand will host its first foreign vacationers when a flight from China arrives next week, marking the gradual restart of a vital tourism sector hit by coronavirus travel restrictions, a senior official said on Tuesday (September 29) .
The first flight will have about 120 tourists from Guangzhou, who will fly directly to the tourist island of Phuket, Thailand Tourism Authority Governor Yuthasak Supasorn told Reuters.
READ: ‘A step in the right direction’: Thailand tour operators welcome special visa for foreigners
Thailand has kept coronavirus infections low with just 3,559 cases and 59 deaths, but its economy has been hit by a ban on foreign visitors since April and is expected to contract 8.5 percent this year.
Government spokeswoman Traisulee Traisoranakul expects 1,200 tourists in the first month, generating around 1 billion baht ($ 31.55 million) in revenue and 12.4 billion baht in a year, attracting 14,400 tourists.
The nationalities that will be allowed to enter will be from countries considered low risk by the government, which will control them.
“We are not opening the country, we are limiting the number of entries and we will manage it with wristbands, applications to follow them,” Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha told reporters.
The government predicts just 6.7 million foreign visitors this year after a record 39.8 million in 2019, whose spending accounted for about 11.4 percent of GDP, or 1.93 trillion baht.
READ: Staycations and Weekend Getaways: Can Domestic Travel Cause a Resurgence in Southeast Asia’s Tourism Industry?
Thailand in January was the first country outside of China to detect the coronavirus, in a visitor from Wuhan.
“Tourists will have an extended stay visa from October 8 and will remain in alternate state quarantine for 14 days,” Yuthasak said.
Visitors need health insurance and a negative coronavirus test 72 hours before traveling and will be tested twice in quarantine.
“Thailand’s protection system can prevent a second wave,” said government spokeswoman Traisulee.
“We have avoided local transmission for 100 days,” he said, adding that that has made Thailand attractive to visitors who want to avoid infections.
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