Passengers look at a flight schedule screen at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok. (Photo: AFP/VNA)The country’s Centre for COVID-19 Situation Administration(CCSA) on February 11 approved a proposal on the Thai-Indian Air Travel Bubble(ATB), in which extra convenience will be offered to air passengers travellingbetween the two countries, despite some remaining COVID-19 restrictions, saidCCSA spokesman Taweesilp Visanuyothin.
Airlines and ticket agents together with COVID-19 controlauthorities will play a key role in this bilateral tourism promotion campaign,he said.
About 1.9 million Indian tourists came to Thailand in 2019,a 25 percent increase from the previous year, according to figures from theMinistry of Tourism and Sports.
They each spent seven days and 44,700 THB (1,400 USD) inThailand on average, he said.
In 2019, this generated about 80 billion THB for Thailand'stourism income, a 20-percent rise from the previous year when India had alreadybecome Thailand's third-largest tourism market, with over 300 flights from India to Thailand, the spokesman added.
Indian visitors represent Thailand's hope for the recoveryof tourism, said Somsong Sachaphimukh, vice president of both the TourismCouncil of Thailand and the Indian-Thai Chamber of Commerce.
The ministry previously forecast 20percent growth in number of Indian visitors to Thailand by 2030, while theWorld Bank projected that 83 million Indian tourists would be travellingoverseas by that same year, up from 24 million in 2017, Somsong said./.
VNA
