Leading international tourism companies in Thailand have launched a campaign to reopen the country’s borders from 1 July 2021. The #OpenThailandSafely campaign launched yesterday (2 March 2021), with the support of over 15 major companies including YAANA Ventures, Minor Group, Asian Trails, Capella Hotels and Resorts, EXO and many others.
The Open Thailand Safely campaign has laid out its arguments in a petition which will underpin a formal request to the Royal Thai Government to respond favourably to the rollout of COVID-19 vaccination programmes underway in many Thailand tourism source markets.
The petition is open to anyone in Thailand or around the world who would like to see the country reopen.
The campaign argues that 1 July is an appropriate date for five reasons:
1. The majority of citizens in many source markets will have been vaccinated by then;
2. It gives time to Thai medical authorities to vaccinate both front line staff in hospitality settings in Thailand and/or vulnerable citizens around the country;
3. It gives international travellers time to make travel plans and bookings;
4. It gives time to airlines, hotels, tour operators and others to start marketing and sales and get ready for tourism operations to commence; and
5. It will take Thailand at least a year, and maybe longer, to return to the large numbers of international visitors that it had before the COVID-19 crisis.
To ensure the safe reopening of Thailand, the petition argues that “international tourists can be asked to satisfy any safeguards the Thai Government may require. This may, for example, include showing officially recognised proof of a COVID-19 vaccination from their home country, purchasing health insurance, showing proof of a negative COVID test within 72 hours of departure, and so on.”
According to the Bank of Thailand and official sources in Thailand, tourism, pre-COVID, was worth about 2.9 trillion baht (US$96.5 billion). Some 39.7 million international visitors in 2019 helped sustain up to 8.3 million jobs. However, arrivals fell to 6.7 million in 2020 making between two and four million people unemployed.
You can sign the petition for Thailand to reopen on 1 July 2021 HERE.
