Thailand plans to attract one million Middle Eastern tourists by end of 2022 after Thai-Saudi restored ties

PHOTO: Post Today

National – 

The Thai government has planned to revive tourism initially by attracting about one million tourists from the Middle East to travel to Thailand by the end of 2022, the deputy government spokesperson revealed today, February 27th.

Traisulee Traisornkul, the Deputy Spokesperson for the Prime Minister’s Office, revealed that the government had the policy to restore the domestic economy while practically controlling the spread of the Covid-19 Coronavirus and preventing people from infections.

On February 24th, Tourism and Sports Minister Phiphat Ratchakitprakarn had witnessed the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MOC) between the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and the Emirates Airline in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to organize traveling activities to attract international tourists around the world who are regular customers of the Emirates Airline to travel to Thailand as well as to promote the tourism campaign “Visit Thailand Year 2022: Amazing New Chapters”, which is a tourism-reviving campaign in line with the Thai Prime Minister’s policy.

Emirates is the second airline after Etihad Airways to sign the MOC with the TAT to attract high-performing tourists, especially from the Middle East. The spokesperson stated that there would be more airlines from Saudi Arabia to sign in a similar MOC.

Traisulee also said that the restoration of diplomatic ties between Thailand and Saudi Arabia in more than 30 years was a significant opportunity to increase potential travelers from the Middle East. Moreover, The Tourism Minister was scheduled to lead a group of business operators in the tourism sector from Thailand to travel to Saudi Arabia in March to strengthen relationship and cooperation with Saudi Arabia’s tourism businesses, which is believed to result in a strong connection for both countries’ governments and the private business sectors and bring significant positive impact on the tourism and economy.

She added: “Tomorrow, February 28th, the maiden flight of the Saudia Airlines traveling from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, would bring about 120 tourists to Thailand. The flight schedule was initially set for three flights a week and was expected to increase after the Covid-19 situation improved.”

“Restoring relations between Thailand and Saudi Arabia would play a crucial role in increasing the number of tourists from the Middle East in Thailand. The Tourism Minister had aimed that by 2022, the number of travelers from the Middle East would be increasing up to one million.”

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Nop Meechukhun
National News Writer at The Pattaya News from September 2020 to October 2022. Born and raised in Bangkok, Nop enjoys telling stories of her hometown through her words and pictures. Her educational experience in the United States and her passion for journalism have shaped her genuine interests in society, politics, education, culture, and art.