The governor of Thailand's Tourism Authority admits it may need to revise its 2021 revenue forecast, but insists that the Phuket "sandbox" project is still on track – and on time. As Thailand battles the third wave of Covid-19, Yuthasak Supasorn says tourism officials will set a new revenue target for both domestic and international tourists.
When all appeared to be going well before the latest outbreak, the TAT projected that tourism would generate around 1.21 trillion baht in revenue in 2021, up 50% more than last year. TAT officials expected around 6.5 million foreign arrivals to generate 3.47 billion baht, with 160 million Thai tourists expected to generate around 8.7 billion. Yuthasak admits that those figures might need to be adjusted slightly...
“TAT must discuss the re-adjustment with the Minister of Tourism and Sports, as well as the private tourism and hospitality sector about the re-adjustment by looking at the domestic and international markets. However, we should consider the situation, as the new Covid-19 outbreak is also occurring in Thailand, but also in target tourism countries such As Japan and India.”
He insists, however, that the reopening of Phuket on July 1 is on track, and the Tourism Minister agrees. The Health Ministry has placed an urgent request for at least 950,000 vaccine doses, Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn says to cover 70 to 80 percent of Phuket's population by June.
“The Tourism Ministry will continue to proceed on the sandbox project in Phuket because the Prime Minister now sees the country's economic and tourism resurrections to be a top priority. The “sealed routes” rule, which restricts vaccinated tourists for seven days, is still on and is under discussion with local tourism authorities.”
The CCSA reported 2,070 new infections in Thailand over the past 24 hours today, the highest daily total since the outbreak started on January 13, 2020.
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