Hua Hin to submit October re-opening plan for government approval
The seaside town of Hua Hin, on the Gulf of Thailand, is working on a proposal to welcome vaccinated foreign tourists from October. Krod Rojanastien, from the Thai Chamber of Commerce, says the Hua Hin Recharge campaign aims to include the resort town in the government’s re-opening plan. He says the area has already earned a reputation for wellness holidays and being a popular seaside destination just a few hours from Bangkok.
According to a Bangkok Post report, the Hua Hin Recharge campaign includes Hua Hin municipality and the district of Nong Kae, an area of around 86 square kilometres, with 182 registered hotels. Adopting similar criteria to the Phuket sandbox model, the campaign is targeting vaccinated foreigners flying into Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport or by private jet to Hua Hin airport. All international visitors would be subject to a Covid-19 test on arrival and would need to download the Thailand Plus tracing app prior to being transported to their hotel.
Krod says tourism operators are hoping to offer tour packages, as well as partnering with their counterparts in places like Phuket and Pattaya, to swap visitors once tourists have completed 7 days in Hua Hin. He says if the re-opening is approved, local operators hope to receive around 100,000 foreign visitors, primarily from countries like China, Japan, Germany, Scandinavia, and the UK. In total, these numbers should result in 1.2 billion baht in revenue.
However, as with elsewhere, everything hinges on the vaccine rollout.
“In order to achieve re-opening, inoculations in Hua Hin must start by June 1 and continue until September 30 with the number of required doses needed being 353,498.”
The Tourism and Sports Ministry has already given the Hua Hin Recharge campaign the go-ahead, on condition that people in areas such as Pran Buri and Cha-am, in the neighbouring province of Phetchaburi, are also vaccinated. The proposal will now go before a meeting of the National Tourism Policy Committee next week, before finally being submitted to the Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration.
SOURCE: Bangkok Post
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