THAILAND has approved a temporary visa waiver for visitors from China and Kazakhstan during the year-end high season in support of its vital tourism industry.

Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said Wednesday that the policy will allow Chinese and Kazakh tourists to enter the Southeast Asian nation without visa requirements beginning Sept. 25 until the end of February 2024.

The government would evaluate the impact of this temporary scheme after it ended, Srettha told a news conference after his first Cabinet meeting.

“We have discussed this with all relevant agencies to ensure that we are fully ready,” he said.

As a key driver of growth, Thailand has planned to reinvigorate its tourism industry by introducing promotional materials to inform prospective travelers and help them gain confidence in visiting the country, said government spokesperson Chai Wacharonke.

Additional measures also include increasing the routes and frequency of direct flights connecting with second-tier Chinese cities, which has the potential to draw more tourists, as well as setting up an online crisis management team to tackle misinformation and bad impressions among Chinese tourists, Chai told a news conference.

He noted that with this new policy, Thailand expects to receive 28 million foreign arrivals this year, earning over 1.4 trillion baht (US$39.15 billion) in revenue from inbound visitors.

In pre-pandemic 2019, Chinese tourists accounted for about 28% of the nearly 40 million foreign tourists to Thailand. Tourism accounts for about 12% of the country’s GDP.

The news has gone down well in China, with travel platforms inundated with searches and inquiries. Searches for tour products on Trip.com Group’s travel platform surged by 800% within 30 minutes after the news being announced. Qunar, another travel portal, said searches for flight tickets to Thailand increased by 70% compared with the same time last week. (SD-Xinhua)