PHUKET: Tourists arriving from China and Kazakhstan today (Sept 25), the first day of ‘visa-free’ travel for people visiting from the two countries, were welcomed at Phuket International Airport with much fanfare, led by a delegation of officials and leading tourism figures.

The delegation at Phuket airport were present to ensure the tourists were made to feel welcome, with Phuket just one of four airports in the country where similar events were held to welcome the visitors, including at Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok and Chiang Mai International Airport.

Tourists arriving from the two countries today were treated to a welcoming ceremony, garlands and gift bags of souvenirs as well as cultural performances “to welcome and impress and show

Thailand’s readiness to be an important tourism destination”, reported the Phuket office of the Public Relations Department (PR Phuket).

The aim of the events today was “to support the government’s policy to urgently accelerate the facilitation of travelling to Thailand though the visa exemption measure for tourism [extended] to Chinese and Kazakhstan tourists from 25 September 2023 – 29 February 2024 in order to build faith [sic],” the PR Phuket report said.

Leading the welcome delegation in Phuket were:

• Siripakorn Cheawsamoot, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) Deputy Governor for European, African, Middle Eastern and American Markets
• Emil Kuliiev, Advisor to the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Phuket Province
• Monchai Tanode, General Manager of Phuket International Airport
• Lertchai Wangtrakuldee, Director of the TAT Phuket Office Thanet Tantipiriyakit, President of the Phuket Tourist Association
• Wirintra Paphakityotphat, head of the Tourism Council of
  Thailand (TCT) Region 11 branch (which represents Phuket, Phang Nga and Krabi)
  Urachat Panyawut, Air Astana Airlines Sales and Marketing Manager for Thailand,

The delegation was on hand, joined by a host of support staff, to welcome tourists arriving on Air Astana Flight KC 563 direct from Almaty, Kazakhstan, which landed at Phuket Airport at 9:25am.

PR Phuket noted that the flight’s passenger capacity was 166 seats, but omitted clarifying exactly how many tourists were on board.

One of the passengers to arrive was Chatchawan Sakornsin, the Thai Ambassador in Astana, traveling along with the group. Including media from Kazakhstan joining the trip.

The Kazakh tourist market is considered a remote market with potential and a large market in Central Asia. The number of visitors from the central Asia country already so far this year has reached 109,865 people (as of Sept 17), compared with 56,529 people throughout all of 2019.

The average stay is 14.03 days, with the average spending at B4,365.25 per person per day. Most from Kazakhstan travel in family groups, most notably during the winter months of December through March, PR Phuket noted in its report.

Air Astana is now operating four flights a week from Almaty, and will increase that to seven flights a week, starting Oct 29 and continuing through April 2024, the report added.
The goal is to attract 150,000 tourists from Kazakhstan this year. The five months of visa exemption is expected to attract 129,485 tourists from Kazakhstan, generating some B7.93 billion for the economy, the report added.

A similar welcome was rolled out for Chinese visitors arriving in Phuket under the visa-free scheme today.

Arrivals to Phuket on three flights in particular were singled out for the warm welcome: Air China flight CA717 from Hangzhou (capacity 158 passengers), which landed at Phuket airport at 3pm; Spring Airlines Flight 9C8667 from Shanghai (capacity 180 passengers), which landed at 4:15pm; and Air China Flight CA 821 (capacity 237 passengers) from Beijing, scheduled to arrive at 5:45pm.

A total of 2,341,080 visitors had arrived from China from Jan 1 to Sept 17. On average tourists from China stay 7.8 days and spend B50,766 per person per trip, PR Phuket noted.
Phuket is the second most popular tourist destination in Thailand for Chinese tourists, after Bangkok.

Extending the visa-free scheme to Chinese nationals is expected to boost revenue from Chinese tourists to B257.5bn in 2023.
The visa-free scheme is hoped to help push the number of foreign tourists to Thailand to reach the announced goal of “25 – 30 million people in 2023”, PR Phuket concluded.

Source: The Phuket News

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