TAT claims 1,500 travellers arriving in Phuket July 1

The much-maligned and restriction heavy Phuket Sandbox plan might open with a bang, as the Tourism Authority of Thailand announced that 1,500 people would arrive on July 1. The governor of TAT said that international flights scheduled to arrive in Phuket on the first day of reopening have 1,500 tickets booked so far.

The island intends to welcome back the first arrivals in over a year and a half with celebration and festivities. TAT is inviting media outlets and international agencies to take part in the Phuket reopening and have invited 200 members of the media and these agencies to arrive throughout July.

Promotions are also set to be launched to lure fully vaccinated Thai people to the holiday island to boost domestic tourism as well. Working with a variety of tourism agencies and the Council and Chamber of Commerce of Thailand, the TAT is creating special programmes for vaccinated Thais to come to Phuket. The tourism promotion launching in Phuket is called “Hug Thai, Chai Thai, Hug Travel”.

The kickoff bringing 1,500 people is a hopeful start that is predicted to gradually increase through the end of the third quarter at the end of September. The government has now set its sights on a goal of 100,000 international travellers arriving in Phuket between July 1 and September 30. It is hoped that this will generate a fair amount of tourism revenue, certainly more than the island province has seen since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold.

The Phuket Sandbox reopening still has some big hurdles. The province is setting up a tourist tracking centre to deal with the travel restrictions for the first 14 days of international arrivals. And bars and entertainment owners on the island are angry and rallying to be allowed to reopen when tourist come back. The businesses have received little assistance and desperately need to earn income, and arriving tourist are lamenting the lack of nightlife or even a beer or two in the evening.

The TAT also addressed the infection rate in Phuket currently, saying it’s single digits each day and asking for people’s trust and support. They assert that the government is controlling and managing infections with strict safety measures and the SHA Plus certification programme keeping businesses following regulations.

SOURCE: The Phuket News