Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 7
Trend:
The Cabinet of Ministers of Thailand on Nov. 6 gave the green light to waive the visa-on arrival fee for visitors from Uzbekistan, as well as other 20 countries for two months to give the tourism industry a much-needed boost, Bangkok Post reported.
The exemption from fees worth $60 will be valid from Dec.1 to Jan. 31 for visitors staying in the country for no more than 15 days, reads the report.
Besides Uzbekistan, the list of countries the citizens of which will be exempt from fees included Andora, Bulgaria, Bhutan, China, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, India, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Romania, San Marino, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan and Ukraine.
According to the Immigration Bureau of Thailand, the number of tourists seeking visas on arrival from January 2016 to the present has kept falling, prompting the government to come up with countermeasures.
The waiver of the visa-on-arrival fees will stimulate the tourism sector, drawing more foreign visitors to the country and generating more income. The number of tourists will be increased by at least 30 percent.
The measure is also aimed at the return of tourists from China to Thailand, as their number decreased after the shipwreck in Phuket province, when 47 people died. By some estimates, thanks to the initiative, up to 40 million foreigners may visit Thailand before the end of the year instead of the expected 38 million.
The Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand said that in September, the total number of tourists amounted to 2.6 million people, which is 2.3 percent more than in the same period last year. Revenues of the national tourism industry also decreased by 11.5 percent and amounted to $1.13 billion.
In the first nine months of 2018, Thailand was visited by 28.5 million foreign tourists (8.7 percent more than in the same period last year). These tourists spent $42.9 billion on trips, which is 10.9 percent more than in the first nine months of 2017.