Thailand’s Tourism Ministry is considering a proposal to exempt visa fees for visitors from European countries to improve the country's tourism industry as the high season is arriving.
Thailand has decided to exempt visa fees for visitors from China and Taiwan and the exemption would be in place for three months.
Tourist arrivals in Thailand for the seven months of this year fell by 10.47 percent to 13.6 million compared to 14 million for the same period last year. Revenue from tourism for the same period dropped by 8 percent to 630 billion THB, according to a report of Tourism Department.
Tourism situation in Thailand began improve recently, with 1.9 million arrivals in July alone which represented a reduction of 10.92 percent compared to the lowest point of decline at 24.37 percent. However, it is expected that tourism would register growth for the first time this year in October with tourist arrivals returning to normal during the high season.
Chinese represented the biggest group of tourists during the seven months of this year with 2.2 million arrivals or a decline by 21.19 percent; followed by Malaysians with 1.04 million or a drop by 18.91 percent; and Russians, 1.02 million, the report said.-VNA
