Thailand considers visa fee exemption for European tourists
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